Houlahan’s STEM Education Bill Passes House

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bipartisan Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, passed the House Tuesday by a vote of 323 to 92.

The bill aims to improve K-12 STEM education by directing the National Science Foundation to provide competitive grants to schools to help modernize the teaching of STEM courses.

The foundation is an independent agency of the U.S. government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.

“As an engineer, entrepreneur, and former chemistry teacher, this is personal for me,” Houlahan, a Chester County Democrat, said Wednesday. “I know just how vital it is for the next generation and the future workforce of the country.”

“We know that STEM education taught in schools today is not keeping pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public and private sectors. And we know that this lack of skills has a direct correlation with a STEM skills shortage across the country.

A bipartisan companion bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat.

“The United States must lead the world in STEM education so that we can continue to innovate and develop technologies that will help strengthen our national security and outcompete China,” Hassan said.

Both bills have been endorsed by the American Statistical Association, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Center for Innovation in Education, and the Business Software Alliance.