Jeff Weld founded and directed for twelve years the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, taking leave in 2018-2019 to serve the 45th President of the United States as Senior Policy Advisor for STEM Education at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, engineering the federal STEM education strategic plan of 2018-2023 among other duties. He resides in Cedar Falls, Iowa from where he now serves several state and national STEM education organizations as an advisor, futurist, evaluator, and strategic planner.
Students, families and communities want and need more STEM learning experiences to realize the American Dream, and yet they cannot access them. Prioritizing STEM education must be an urgent priority for the federal government and the Department of Education.
The incoming presidential administration of 2025 should champion a policy position calling for strengthening of the connection between K-12 schools and community workplaces.
Federal investment in STEM education/workforce development, though significant, can hardly be described as a generational response to an economic and national security crisis.