Bill Gates as well as my visa sponsor ( www.sonlightinternational.com ) are
clever - they are based in states which do not have state income tax ! Should
Assam do away with state income tax ?
Umesh
umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/MediaCenter/Speeches/Co-ChairSpeeches/BillgSpeeches/BGSpeechesHELP-070307.htm
March 7, 2007
U.S. Senate Committee Hearing
Washington, D.C.
---------------------------------
Written Testimony by Bill Gates, co-chair
---------------------------------
Editor's note: Bill Gates was invited to provide testimony before the U.S.
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on March 7, 2007.
Below is an excerpt of his written testimony as it relates to the foundation's
work to raise high school graduation rates in the United States.
Chairman Kennedy, Ranking Member Enzi, honorable members of the Committee, my
name is Bill Gates and I am Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. I am also a
co-chair, with my wife Melinda, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is
an honor for me to appear before you today to share my thoughts on the future
of American education, the development of our workforce, and other policies
necessary to ensure Americas continued competitiveness in the global economy.
America cannot maintain its innovation leadership if it does not educate
world-class innovators and train its workforce to use innovations effectively.
Unfortunately, available data suggest that we are failing to do soin our math
and science programs, in our job training programs, and especially in our high
schools.
Improving Americas High Schools
Americas greatest educational shortcoming today is what for much of our
history was its greatest pride: our public schools. American schools have long
been the cornerstone of this countrys fundamental belief that all people have
equal value and deserve an equal opportunity to lead productive lives. Yet all
of the evidence indicates that our high schools are no longer a path to
opportunity and success, but a barrier to both.
Our current expectations for what our students should learn in school were
set fifty years ago to meet the needs of an economy based on manufacturing and
agriculture. We now have an economy based on knowledge and technology. Despite
the best efforts of many committed educators and administrators, our high
schools have simply failed to adapt to this change. As any parent knows,
however, our children have notthey are fully immersed in digital culture.
As a result, while most students enter high school wanting to succeed, too
many end up bored, unchallenged and disengaged from the high school
curriculumdigital natives caught up in an industrial-age learning model.
Many high school students today either drop out or simply try to get by. For
those who graduate, many lack the skills they need to attend college or to find
a job that can support a family. Until we transform the American high school
for the 21st century, we will continue limiting the lives of millions of
Americans each year. The cost of inaction substantially increases each year
that we fail to act. Consider the following facts:
America has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the
industrialized world. According to a study released by Education Week, three
out of every 10 ninth-grade students will not graduate on time and about half
of all African American and Hispanic ninth graders will not earn a diploma in
four years. Of those who do graduate and continue on to college, over a quarter
have to take remedial courses on material they should have learned in high
school. Employers complain that high school graduates today lack the basic
writing and analytic skills required to succeed even in entry level positions.
Every student in America should graduate from high school ready for college,
career and life. Every child. No exceptions. Whether they are going off to
college or into the work force or a combination of the two, it is the
responsibility of public education to give our young people the skills,
knowledge and preparation for life they need and deserve.
As we work toward this goal, I would urge Congress to place an equal focus on
standards, measurements and data, and additional support for students and
teachers. Educational standards have one central purposeto ensure that
students make the most of their abilities. For our country and our young people
to be successful, all students should have access to schools and courses that
prepare them for college, career and life. Many state standards in place today
are unacceptably low.
For instance, only about half of our states require students to take three or
four years of math to graduate from high school. Eight states do not set any
math course requirements. Furthermore, in many states, any math course counts
toward that requirement, as if consumer math were the same as calculus. If high
standards encourage young people to make the most of their talents, then low
standards discourage them from doing soand right now, that is our predominant
policy. I applaud the commitments made by more than 30 governors to raise their
states math and literacy standards and ensure K-12 policies help students meet
the demands of college and work. I commend the President and Secretary of
Education for their call for rigorous coursework and the members of this
Committee for their tireless attention to these issues. We need to continue to
support these efforts by offering incentives for states to adopt higher
standards.
We also must understand how well our schools and students are performing
relative to these standards. Data collection systems must be transparent and
accurate so that we can understand what is working and what isnt and for whom.
Therefore, we need data by race and income. I urge this Committee to support
the creation of a Center for State Education Data, which will serve as a
national resource for state education data and will provide one-stop access for
education research and policymakers, along with a public Web site to streamline
education data reporting. But we cant just collect data. We also need to use
the data we collect to implement change, including by personalizing learning to
make it more relevant and engaging for studentsand thereby truly ensure that
no child is left behind.
We also need to accurately define and measure graduation rates. Currently,
states use a variety of different methods for calculating graduation rates.
There is no universally accepted standard that would allow easy comparisons
between states or school districts. Recently, the governors of all fifty states
took a big step to correct this problem by signing the National Governors
Association's Graduation Rate Compact, which commits them to adopt accurate and
consistent measurements. Federal policies should provide incentives for states
to meet this important goal.
If we are going to demand more from our students and teachers, then it is our
obligation to provide them with the support they need to meet the challenge.
All studentsregardless of age, grade level, gender, or racedo better when
they are supported by a good teacher. Committed, quality teachers are the
lynchpin of a good educational system, and those that excelespecially in
challenging schools or in high-need subjects like math and scienceshould be
rewarded. The Teacher Incentive Fund is an important first step in ensuring
that teachers are rewarded, valued and respected as they would be in my company
or in any other organization. This program should be made permanent through
authorization.
We also need to take steps to ensure that curricula are engaging and relevant
to students current needs. A model for this is the Partnership for 21st
Century Skills, of which Microsoft is a member. This unique partnership of
education, government, and business leaders seeks to help schools adapt their
curricula and classroom environments to align more closely with the skills that
students need to succeed in the 21st century economy, such as communication and
problem-solving skills.
Finally, we must also ensure that our struggling students have more
opportunities for in-depth learning and personal attention. This means more
quality learning time in schools, access to high-quality learning materials,
after school enrichment programs, and tutors.
Making these changes will be hard, but not impossible. This committee has
done important work in this regard through the No Child Left Behind
legislation. The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind offers Congress an
opportunity to build on this work and address the other critical issues I have
highlighted. I know these changes are possible in part through my work with the
Gates Foundation, which has invested over $1.5 billion in partnership with
non-profits, school districts, states, the private sector and others, to
improve high school education, including the support of more than 1800
high-quality high schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Microsoft
has likewise made deep investments in education, especially through our
Partners in Learning program. That program creates partnerships to provide
resources to educators focused on leadership development and holistic learning
reform. One of the programs flagship initiatives has been our collaboration
with the
School District of Philadelphia to build a "School of the Futurebringing
innovation to all areas of high school redesign, including instruction,
technology integration, hiring and professional development, and building
design.
I would like to mention three other initiatives in particular that
demonstrate what can be achieved:
New York City has opened close to 200 new schools in the last five years with
many replacing some of the citys most underperforming schools. The first set
of new schools achieved an average 79 percent graduation rate compared to
graduation rates ranging from 31 to 51 percent at the schools they replaced.
Bostons business, education and civic leaders have made a commitment to
dramatically increase the number of young people ready for college and career.
A winner of the Broad Prize this year, Boston has increased math scores on the
4th and 8th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress at a faster rate
than other large American cities participating in NAEPs Trial Urban District
Assessment. The number of AP math and English exams taken by minority students
is up more than 200 percent for Latino students and 78 percent for African
Americans since 2002.
Early College High Schools are perhaps the most innovative and groundbreaking
initiative underway nationally and show all of us what we can do if we think
differently. The early college model is counter-intuitive to most, at least
initially. The approach is to recruit traditionally low-performing, struggling
students to attend high schools that require enrollment in college courses. The
schools provide the corresponding support and guidance for students to graduate
with two years of college credit and/or an associates degree. Today, there are
more than 125 early college high schools in operation in over 20 states, and
there are plans to open up to 45 more by 2008. So far, among the first class of
ninth graders at the original three Early College high schools, over 95 percent
graduated with a high school diploma, over 57 percent have earned an
associates degree, and over 80 percent have been accepted into four-year
colleges.
I encourage all of you to visit any of these school models or districts and
see this innovation first hand.
These pockets of success are exciting. But they alone cannot transform our
education systems. Doing that will take political and public will. When people
learn about the problems with our high schools, and they hear about the
possibility of success, they demand change. That is why the Gates Foundation
has joined with the Broad Foundation to support the Strong American Schools
Partnership. This Partnership, which will be formally launched later this
month, is intended to express Americas shared vision that we need to demand
more for our children now so that they will be more prepared and more
successful as adults.
Promoting Math and Science Education
Another area where America is falling behind is in math and science education.
We cannot possibly sustain an economy founded on technology pre-eminence
without a citizenry educated in core technology disciplines such as
mathematics, computer science, engineering, and the physical sciences. The
economys need for workers trained in these fields is massive and growing. The
U.S. Department of Labor has projected that, in the decade ending in 2014,
there will be over two million job openings in the United States in these
fields. Yet in 2004, just 11 percent of all higher education degrees awarded in
the U.S. were in engineering, mathematics, and the physical sciencesa decline
of about a third since 1960.
Recent declines are particularly pronounced in computer science. The
percentage of college freshmen planning to major in computer science dropped by
70 percent between 2000 and 2005. In an economy in which computing has become
central to innovation in nearly every sector, this decline poses a serious
threat to American competitiveness. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to
say that every significant technological innovation of the 21st century will
require new software to make it happen.
The problem begins in high school. International tests have found our fourth
graders among the top students in the world in science and above average in
math. By eighth grade, they have moved closer to the middle of the pack. By
12th grade, U.S. students score near the bottom of all industrialized nations.
Too many students enter college without the basics needed to major in science
and engineering. Part of our effort to transform the American high school for
the 21st Century must focus on reversing this trend and improving education in
math and sciences.
I believe our schools can do better. High schools are emerging around the
country that focus on math and science, and they are successfully engaging
students who have long been underrepresented in these fieldsschools like the
School of Science and Technology in Denver, Aviation High School in Seattle,
and University High School in Hartford, Connecticut. These schools have
augmented traditional teaching methods with new technologies and a rigorous,
project-centered curriculum, and their students know they are expected to go on
to college. This combination is working to draw more young people, especially
more African American and Hispanic young people, to study math and science.
Schools are also partnering with the private sector to strengthen secondary
school math and science education, and I want to mention one recent initiative
in particular with which Microsoft has been involved. It is called the
Microsoft Math Partnership, and it is a public-private initiative designed to
focus new attention on improving middle-school math education. Although the
program is currently focused on schools in Washington State, we believe this
Partnership provides a sound model for public-private sector efforts across
America.
To remain competitive in the global economy, we must build on the success of
these schools and initiatives and commit to an ambitious national agenda for
high school education. But we also must focus on post-secondary education.
College and graduate students are simply not obtaining science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees in sufficient numbers to meet
demand. The number of undergraduate engineering degrees awarded in the United
States fell by about 17 percent between 1985 and 2004.
This decline is particularly alarming when we look at educational trends in
other countries. In other countries, a much greater percentage of college
degrees are in engineering than in the U.S. If current trends continue, a
significant percentage of all scientists and engineers in the world will be
working outside of the U.S. by 2010.
For years, the decline in the percentage of graduate degrees awarded to
American students in science, technology, engineering, and math was offset by
an increase in the percentage of foreign students obtaining these degrees. But
new security regulations and our obsolete immigration systemwhich I will
address in a momentare dissuading foreign students from studying in the United
States. Consider this: applications to U.S. graduate schools from China and
India have declined and fewer students are taking the Graduate Record Exam
required for most applicants to U.S. graduate schools. The message here is
clear: We can no longer rely on foreign students to ensure that America has
enough scientists and engineers to satisfy the demands of an expanding economy.
Tackling this problem will require determination by government and support by
industry. The goal should be to [d]ouble the number of science, technology,
and mathematics graduates by 2015. Achieving this goal will require both funds
and innovative ideas. For high schools, we should aim to recruit 10,000 new
science and mathematics teachers annually and strengthen the skills of existing
teachers. To expand enrollment in post-secondary math and science programs, we
should provide 25,000 new four-year, competitive undergraduate scholarships
each year to U.S. citizens attending U.S. institutions and fund 5000 new
graduate fellowships each year. Americas young people must come to see STEM
degrees as opening a window to opportunity. If we fail at this, we simply will
be unable to compete with the emerging innovative powerhouses abroad.
I recognize that implementing these solutions will not be easy and will take
strong political will and courageous leadership. But I firmly believe that our
efforts, if we succeed, will pay rich dividends for our nations next
generation. We have had the amazing good fortune to live through one of the
most prosperous and innovative periods in history. We must not squander this
opportunity to secure Americas continued competitiveness and prosperity.
Thank you again for this opportunity to testify. I welcome your questions on
these topics.
Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park,
(Washington D.C. Metro Region)
MD 20740
1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep
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Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park,
(Washington D.C. Metro Region)
MD 20740
1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep
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