Does More Math and Science Really Add Up?

Last Thursday’s New York Times reported that Bill Gates thinks our economy will capsize without additional math and science teachers and resources. The actual testimony recognized the needs throughout our education system, but the NYT Business section published the AP wire about math and science. According to the article, Mr. Gates’ testimony before Congress included the savory fact that Microsoft has about 3,000 jobs that cannot be filled because of the lack of skilled workers in the United States. In response, I thought I would propose a few questions for Mr. Gates (and his foundation).

First, I argue that to be really good at math and science, our students need to be good readers and problem solvers. They need to learn how to think at the “meta” levels of the cognition taxonomy, not just have more classes in math and science. As the fear of globalization grows, I am afraid that someone as powerful as Mr. Gates might be sending the wrong message. I don’t think one subject is anymore important than the other, but we are surely not helping the matter by getting on a soapbox to proclaim that better math and science curriculums will be the economic silver bullet. The Association for Computing Machinery released a study finding the United States really needs advanced researchers, innovators, and inventors for the future of the technology industry. If our high school students can’t read, what good will millions of dollars in curriculum reforms really do?

Second, I propose that we need to be a little more specific (and realistic) about what skills are really needed. Do we need people who need to know a computer language in order to do the same rote task everyday, or do we need innovators? Business Week had an interesting article a few years ago about the kinds of technology jobs that are being sent overseas. Are routine procedural jobs the jobs we are worried about? If we need scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, what is holding back our technically savvy high school students from moving into that industry? Is it years of expensive schooling (and classes that they might not need)? Is it additional years of expensive graduate school? If all they need to be skilled is more math and science classes, are traditional college diplomas a waste? What would happen if in the next four years, Mr. Gates found 3,000 high school students that wanted to work in this industry and trained them? How much would that cost? Would he hire them?

I am not trying, with all of my graduate-student wisdom, to discount Mr. Gates’ concerns. I just want for the preachers of the “mathematics and science as salvation” doctrine to slow down, take a breath, and remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

***As an English teacher on leave, I couldn’t resist using a few idiomatic expressions, rhetorical devices, and one (somewhat) extended metaphor. I’ve even inserted a few grammatical no-no’s. If you can’t spot them- go back to English class!