The letter from Rep. George E. Brown, Jr., of California (The Scientist, Aug. 7, 1989, page 12) predicting a trend toward increased emphasis on science education seems overly optimistic unless administrative priorities are altered to promote science education.
The National Science Foundation has a Presidential Young Investigator Awards Program "... ... to put in place the highest quality faculty members for educating the next generation of professional scientists and engineers” (NSF Pub. 89-18, page 22). This seems contradictory since “high ability scientific and engineering researchers receive $25,000 plus an additional $37,500 on a dollar-for-dollar basis if matched with contributions from industrial sources” for “research support” (NSF Pub. 88-65, page 64) rather than for devoting time to teaching. With a self-proclaimed “education president,” the NSF should have Presidential Young Educator Awards.
The lack of science education emphasis is made clear by looking at journals. For example, there are well over 100 ...
