Massachusetts Board of Education; Testimony of Chris Anderson, MHTC
Testimony of Christopher R. Anderson, President, Massachusetts High Technology Council
Before the Massachusetts Board of Education
March 29, 2005
Thank you, Chairman Peyser.
On behalf of the CEO members of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, I am here in support of making the Science and Technology/Engineering component of the MCAS test a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2010.
Earlier this month, the Council’s CEO Policy and Business Climate Survey revealed that more than half of the technology chief executives planning to add to their workforce in the next year. This is good news for technology workers - software engineers, telecommunications professionals and others who have suffered through the significant downturn with limited opportunities. At this point, there is still a large pool of skilled workers for companies to bring aboard.
But what worries tech CEOs and human resource professionals is what happens in the future, as the tech economy continues to grow putting more strain on our workforce. A recent study by the Manhattan Institute showed that only 34 percent of students graduating from American public high schools had the skills needed to attend college. Another recent study ranked the U.S. dead last of12 competitor nations in generating engineers on an annual basis.
This is a national problem, but it is more foreboding for a technology-rich state like ours. Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to have actually lost population last year. And the future pipeline of tech workers may be running dry: according to the College Board, interest in science and technology careers among the state’s college bound seniors now sits at 19 percent - down from 26 percent in 1999. If these trends are allowed to continue, Massachusetts will lose its edge as a high tech state – even as America’s lead as a technology country shrinks due to fierce worldwide competition. Singapore recently knocked the US from the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s Global IT rankings, in which the quality of math and science education is a significant factor. The US is now ranked fifth.
We must continue to expand the pipeline of students who choose careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and that cannot be achieved without proficiency in core areas. And we have seen that when confronted with a challenge like when the English and math portions started to count, students and teachers rise to the occasion.
Requiring students to pass the Science portion of the MCAS test is a key building block in the future of the state’s workforce.
If we don’t do this immediately, we risk falling behind other states that have already made science proficiency a graduation requirement. As Commissioner Driscoll reported to you at your last meeting, six states right now require students to pass a state high school science<
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