Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The landmark 2005 report for Congress, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," warns that the United States stands to lose its scientific and technological superiority in the coming century unless we can persuade a greater proportion of young Americans to choose science, engineering or mathematics as careers.

In a world where the link between scientific progress and a rising standard of living is becoming increasingly undeniable, the next generation of Americans is shrinking away from these fields that are so important for our economic future.

For example, the report notes that only 6 percent of U.S. college undergraduates major in engineering — the second-lowest proportion in the developed world. By contrast, 12 percent of European and 40 percent of Chinese undergraduates major in engineering. In the past, the United States has met its shortfalls by importing scientists and other experts from abroad, but that's become much more difficult as visa requirements have become more onerous in a post-9/11 world. Many other experts are choosing to stay home as well, seeking to participate in their own nations' burgeoning science and technology enterprise.

This problem is especially acute in Texas. According to the nonprofit Intercultural Development Research Association, more than one in three Texas students who entered the state's high schools as freshman in 2002-2003 were lost from public school enrollment by the time they should have been seniors.

The cost of these dropouts isn't cheap, and the price is paid for by all of us. A report by the Friedman Foundation estimates that each of these young dropouts will cost state taxpayers $3,168 annually in increased Medicaid and prison expenses as well as lost taxes and revenue.

Members of racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in science and medicine are at special risk. The IDRA report found that 47 percent of Hispanic students and 40 percent of African-American students were dropouts. Since Hispanic-Americans make up 43 percent and African-Americans, 12 percent of the population of Texas for a combined total of 55 percent, these youngsters are an important part of the state's future. They must be brought into the mainstream.

The high-tech world in which they will live requires more education, particularly in science and mathematics. Even if they are not scientists, mathematicians or engineers, they must understand the language of these disciplines to be part of 21st century society.

What is the problem in the United States and in Texas? How can we reverse this trend?

For one thing, our children are unfamiliar with science and mathematics. They need excellent preparation in these subjects but right now, they're not getting enough exposure to them. In fact, some children are even studying science with teachers who do not have adequate preparation to teach the subject they are assigned.

The authors of "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" recommend that educating teachers new and old is an important start for closing this gap in science and mathematics education. Specifically, they charge that improving science and math education will require 10,000 new teachers to reach 10 million young minds, along with renewed and advanced educational opportunities for 250,000 teachers already in the classroom.

How can we encourage our youngsters to become scientists, mathematicians and engineers?

"Rising Above the Gathering Storm" calls for a fresh look at teaching methods that take advantage of new technology, especially the Internet, to share and utilize information, and generate excitement in science and math among students. This adoption of new technology must start with the youngest students and continue until they graduate from high school, and beyond.

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) — an organization of leading Texas scientists who have been elected to membership in one or more of the national academies) has been charged by its founder, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, to address the state's educational deficiencies, and to lead debate and decision-making about how not only to keep our children in school, but also to encourage them to become literate in science and math in a world increasingly driven by technological progress.

We, as members of the TAMEST education committee, are convinced that despite the obvious challenges, our state can chart a new course that will extend the American Dream to the next generation of Texans, and ensure Texas' place as an innovative leader in the global economy.

Brinkley is vice president and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Distinguished Service Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. Tapia is University Professor and Maxfield and Oshman Professor in Engineering in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University.