Amidst all the cuts happening in the federal government, you could be forgiven for overlooking the pausing of a small effort to celebrate excellent math and science teachers. With a proposed $12 billion cut to discretionary funding for the Department of Education, why should anyone care about the potential demise of a modest program to honor teachers in math and science? Here’s why it matters.
Presidential Awards Program for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) were, until this year, the nation’s highest honors for K-12 teachers in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM. Established by an act of Congress in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan and administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy ever since, they recognized up to 110 outstanding educators from across the country for their “passion, dedication, and impact in the classroom.”
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