ACT has long held March 14th as a special day on the calendar. As the need for math and science education becomes more apparent, many have joined us in recognizing the date as Pi Day. In the tech industry, we are particularly sensitive to our country’s shortcomings educating students in these subjects. Math and science classes provide the building blocks of learning for future engineers and software developers who are crucial for our industry’s growth.
The median salary for a software developer now exceeds $90,000. Our nation’s classrooms should be producing graduates capable of pursuing the degrees needed for these jobs. Sadly, that is not happening. Tens of thousands of high-paying tech jobs remain unfilled because our country is not graduating enough engineers and computer scientists to qualify for these positions.
In order for the United States to retain its competitive edge in the tech industry, we need to rely less on students from abroad and more on homegrown talent. That will only happen if we make significant improvements in math, science, and computer education. Congress earlier recognized the importance of these curricula when it passed a Pi Day resolution. What’s now needed is a far greater commitment to improve education of these core subjects in our nation’s schools.
