Obama Requests $20,000 Salary Increase for "Master" Science and Maths Teachers but will Congress Pay Ball? (July 19, 2012)

It's a plan given little chance to gain US Congressional approval but President Obama announced that he wants thousands of the best primary and secondary school science and maths teachers in the United States to form "a new, national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Master Teacher Corps comprised of some of the nation’s finest educators in STEM subjects".

The White House media release states: "The STEM Master Teacher Corps will begin with 50 exceptional STEM teachers established in 50 sites and will be expanded over 4 years to reach 10,000 Master Teachers. These selected teachers will make a multi-year commitment to the Corps and, in exchange for their expertise, leadership and service, will receive an annual stipend of up to $20,000 on top of their base salary. The Administration will launch this Teacher Corps with the $1 billion from the President’s 2013 budget request currently before Congress."

Introducing the plan President Obama said: "If America is going to compete for the jobs and industries of tomorrow, we need to make sure our children are getting the best education possible. Teachers matter, and great teachers deserve our support." And the White House noted that the President's plan is based "on a key recommendation of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), calling for a national STEM Master Teacher Corps to recognize and help retain America’s most talented STEM teachers, build a community of practice among them, raise the profile of the STEM teaching profession, and leverage excellent teachers to collaborate with their peers to strengthen STEM education in America’s public schools".

The White House has also announced that this coming Wednesday Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Dr. John Holdren, and PCAST Co-Chair Dr. Eric Lander will meet at the White House with outstanding math and science teachers to discuss efforts to strengthen teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and build up the STEM education profession.

Looking further down the track Mr Obama is setting a goal of 100,000 additional STEM teachers over the next decade to be underpinned "with growing philanthropic and private sector support.

ScienceInsider reports: The program is intended "to elevate the prestige" of the profession and highlight the importance of science and math in the schools, says Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "There have been pockets of creativity, but until now there has been a lack of resources. I think that school districts are more than ready for this idea." In a press briefing yesterday, Cecilia Muñoz emphasized the role that STEM teachers play "in equipping our students with the knowledge they will need to get jobs in the high-growth fields that fund innovation."

However, there are strong indications that the Republican controlled House of Representatives is hardly enamoured of the plan. Accorsing to ScienceInsider:

The chair of  the House committee, that oversees education and authorizes new programs, is a fierce opponent of the Administration's attempt to spend more money on targeted new programs. Instead, Representative John Kline (R-MN), has proposed legislation that would give money to local school authorities to use as they see fit.
 

Asked to comment on the idea of a STEM master teacher corps, his spokesperson cited Kline's reaction to a report earlier this year that tallied the hundreds of existing federal programs aimed at improving STEM education. "Investing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a worthwhile endeavor—but pumping billions of dollars into programs that may be duplicative or unproductive is just plain foolish," Kline said then.