Panel Worries That NSF Is Losing Clout on Education Issues

Washington

Some members of Congress raised objections last week to what they see as a steadily diminishing role for the National Science Foundation in mathematics and science education, a shift that backers of the agency say curtails innovation and increases the potential for political interference in school research.

At a May 3 hearing of the House Science Committee, members of both parties said they saw recent cuts to the math and science education portion of the NSF’s budgets as a particularly troubling sign.

They also criticized the Bush administration for not specifically supporting a stronger role for the independent federal agency in the president’s $380 million math and science education initiative,...