On June 23rd, The Green Machine travelled to Washington, D.C to speak with Minnesota Senators and Members of Congress at the annual FIRST National Advocacy Conference. The conference was founded by Steve Hyer from FIRST Team 27 – RUSH, who wanted the NAC to serve as a way for FIRST teams to connect with their elected officials and advocate for funding for after-school STEM activities like FIRST Robotics. More than 200 students and mentors from around the US attended the 3-day conference.
While in Washington, The Green Machine held meetings with Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (the Team met with Klobuchar’s staff). 1816 also met with Members of Congress Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-District 3) and Rep. Keith Ellison’s staff (DFL-District 5). The focus of the meetings was to ask the Members of Congress and Senators to support the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Technical and Career Act, which provides “an increased focus on the academic achievement of career and technical education students.” Such students could include those involved in STEM-based subjects and activities, like Robotics. By advocating for the Perkins Act, FIRST hopes to bring STEM to more schools and students across the United States. At present, FIRST programs support 530,000 students on 61,000 teams in 85 countries. However, in the U.S., only 17.5% of students in the U.S. are engaged with FIRST. According to FIRST president Don Bossi, who spoke at the FIRST NAC, inspiring a lifelong love of learning is critical in today’s rapidly-evolving workforce. The robots and core STEM concepts entice students to think more critically about how to improve the world around them, he says.
This year’s FIRST NAC focus on the Perkins Act differed from last year’s ask, which centered around the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), specifically Title IV, Part A. Former MN Senator Al Franken worked to promote STEM-based programs through the ESSA; he wrote Title IV Part A in 2015 and played a key part in having it signed into law by then-president Barack Obama.
Both Senator Smith and Senator Klobuchar’s offices made clear that they were in support of STEM. Senator Smith is especially devoted to bringing more women into the STEM workforce.
Klobuchar was one of the first senate members to have a bill passed under President Trump; the two bills support women in STEM, something that Klobuchar “is a strong advocate for,” according to an aide to Senator Klobuchar. Both of Minnesota’s senators have made public statements that they will continue to fully support the Perkins Act. Senator Klobuchar, on June 26, introduced an amendment to the Act to specifically address STEM outreach. Senator Smith also expressed interest in working directly with Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Scott (R – NC), to move the Perkins reauthorization bill forward.