The money and priority given to science and engineering education in the coming year by Congress and President Bush is woefully inadequate, says the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation, whose members include a wide spectrum of scholarly and industry groups ranging from Google to the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
The occasion for the slam is the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill being considered by Congress, according to a blog post today by the Computing Research Association, a task-force member.
“The President and Congress, for all their stated support this year for making basic research in the physical sciences and engineering a top budget priority, ended up essentially cutting, or flat-funding, key science agencies after accounting for inflation,” reports the blog.
The task force is particularly incensed because earlier this year, Congress passed the America Competes Act, which talked about doubling spending for science education and research initiatives. But now, when it comes time to actually appropriate the money, Congress and the president turned tail and ran, the task force says.—Josh Fischman
