Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The United States is hungry for talent in technological fields but must look abroad for much of it – like about half of the engineers we need.

Some people call it "intellectual capital." Sadly, the nation's alarming and growing deficit won't be filled by the American education system unless current trends are reversed.

The challenge starts right here at home, where the deficit is particularly acute. It's good to hear that the Dallas-based Texas Instruments Foundation and several partners are announcing a stepped-up effort this week in two areas:

The first is a TI Foundation grant of $1.5 million to the group Laying the Foundation to give advanced training to current teachers at 10 middle and junior high schools in the Dallas, Richardson and Garland school districts. The teachers will receive financial incentives, and the districts will share training costs. Research shows that superior teacher preparation pays dividends in the classroom.

The second effort uses a separate $1.5 million TI Foundation grant to graduate new math and science teachers through UTeach programs at three universities. Developed at the University of Texas, UTeach is one of the nation's most innovative programs for filling the math and science void. It recruits and trains promising underclassmen and, by employing experienced "master teachers" from public education, heads them toward teaching careers, where they can multiply their talents. 

The TI Foundation money will expand current UTeach efforts at UT-Dallas and the University of North Texas and help start one at UT-Arlington. Partners in the UTA program are the Dallas-based National Math and Science Initiative, the Texas Education Agency and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Educators and business leaders have been sobered up by the nation's pitiful production of students in the so-called STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). UTeach has spread to 13 universities, and numerous other efforts have sprouted.

But if you think we're anywhere close to solving the problem, consider this: In Texas, about 30 percent of middle and high school science teachers lack as much as a minor in the subject.

The initiatives to be announced this week should close the math-science gap by about 300 teachers – a strong showing that we hope will inspire others to help nurture young minds.