Oversight of the National Science Foundation

Opening Statement By Chairman Brian Baird

Good morning.  Welcome to this Research and Science Education Subcommittee hearing on the National Science Foundation’s fiscal year 2009 budget request and related policy issues.

I am happy that, despite the disappointment of the Fiscal Year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, the Administration remains determined to keep NSF on a doubling-path.  The strong budget request for basic research at NSF is something that this Committee commends and supports. 

And I am happy to see that the education programs at NSF are getting an increase.  However – and this is a sentiment shared by the overwhelming majority of my Committee colleagues on both sides of the aisle – I am once again dismayed at the treatment of K-12 education in the budget request.

The top recommendation of the National Academies of Science’s Gathering Storm report was to place teachers who have strong content knowledge and effective teaching skills in math and science classrooms across America.  The report cited the 10-year old University of Texas UTeach program as an example of best practices for STEM teacher education.  Based on its success, UTeach has already been taken as a model by the State of California as well as the private sector.

The COMPETES Act used the Academies’ recommendations and UTeach as the basis for restructuring NSF’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.  It set out a funding trajectory that would enable to program to reach the goal of 10,000 new STEM teachers per year.  I am disappointed that the Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for Noyce not only fails to reach the $103 million authorized in the COMPETES Act, but is also below the Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations level. 

I am also interested in learning more about NSF’s decision to apply all of the increases in the graduate research and education to the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, rather than the Integrative Graduate Education and Research and Training (IGERT) Program since IGERT is also an extremely well-regarded and effective program. 

Beyond education, I would like to talk about the proposed changes to the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction budget, as well as some changes proposed with respect to the icebreaker fleet. 

Finally, as a social scientist, I also want to say a word about the social and behavioral sciences.  While I understand that not all fields will get equal increases every year, I want to reiterate the importance of the social sciences to all of the major challenges our nation is facing, including energy, water, health, national security and competitiveness.  I’m interested in hearing from you today the justification for the budget request for the Social, Behavioral and Economics directorate and to what extent, if any, the social sciences are integrated into NSF’s major research initiatives.

Finally, let me end on a positive note.  I was pleased with the request for a significant increase for the Office of International Science and Engineering and I look forward to Dr. Bement’s participation in an upcoming hearing during which we will explore the role of federal agencies, including NSF, in supporting international science and engineering cooperation.

I thank you for being here today and I look forward to your testimony.

Witnesses

Panel

1 - Dr. Arden Bement
Director National Science Foundation National Science Foundation
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2 - Dr. Steven Beering
Chairman National Science Board National Science Board
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