By BERNARD A. HARRIS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 14, 2010, 10:16PM
As America struggles to recover from its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we are at grave risk of losing our technical edge to increasingly more capable global competitors.
The prosperity we are striving to revive is a product of past commitments to education and investments in science and technology that we have hesitated to renew.
We must expect more from our policymakers, educators and children when it comes to proficiency in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the “STEM” fields that keep us atop the economic pinnacle.
In January, President Barack Obama responded with a $250 million expansion of “Educate to Innovate,” a public-private initiative intended to improve science and math instruction and overcome a growing shortage of technically trained men and women.
It seeks to train 10,000 new math and science teachers, while providing on-the-job training to another 100,000 instructors.
As part of the initiative, NASA's multiyear “Summer of Innovation” will place scientists and engineers face to face with thousands of students and teachers in the classroom, as well as in facilities like Houston's own Johnson Space Center.
We've successfully used these techniques at The Harris Foundation, the Houston-based nonprofit organization I founded in 1998, to reach more than 10,000 underserved elementary and middle school students across the nation through our educational programs annually. Through instruction and the participation of astronauts and other role models, we awaken students to their own talents and the many possibilities that await them. They learn to set goals and work side by side with scientists and engineers on exciting projects.
As a product of a single mother struggling to raise three children, at 13 years old I was struck by the grandeur of Apollo 11 and the audaciousness of two men walking on the moon for the first time. I overcame the challenges of my childhood to achieve success as a physician, NASA astronaut and entrepreneur. Education was my launching pad.
Shuttle Endeavour lifted off Feb. 8 with Tranquility, the final habitable U.S. module destined for the International Space Station. Construction of the station will end soon, along with the retirement of the space shuttle program.
America has long prided itself as a nation of dreamers, a land where everyone can strive for a better life, a place where grand achievements like top-notch universities, missions to the moon, personal computers and the Internet spring forth to create new prosperity.
When NASA Administrator Charles Bolden rolled out the 2011 NASA budget Feb. 1, he expressed the need to inspire the next generation of explorers. I couldn't agree more. I am pleased to see that the NASA education budget has been increased by $20 million to focus on STEM initiatives.
Space exploration, among the most difficult of human endeavors, can serve to enlarge our economic sphere, rich with the promise of new technologies for other pursuits.
In February we celebrate Black History Month. This year's theme, “The History of Black Economic Empowerment,” reminds us of the contribution that all of our communities have made to this great nation and the promise of America.
We must not lose the will to pursue daring new goals, encourage our students to dream and equip them with the educational tools to pursue their aspirations. Our future depends on it.
Harris, a former NASA astronaut, is founder of The Harris Foundation, managing partner of Vesalius Ventures, a venture capital firm, and serves on the board of the National Math and Science Initiative and Coalition for Space Exploration. On Feb. 9, 1995, as a member of NASA's initial joint U.S./Russian shuttle mission, he became the first African-American to walk in space.
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