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...
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