A year ago at this time, a STEM Action Center wasn’t even so much as a proposal.
Angela Hemingway was working with the State Department of Education. She was “deep in the weeds” of assessment and accountability issues, and the idea of a STEM center wasn’t really on her mind.
In 2016, the brand-new STEM Action Center could get a big cash infusion from the Legislature. Hemingway, the center’s executive director, is fielding questions from lawmakers about how the money would be used.
In 2016-17, Gov. Butch Otter wants to spend $2.4 million of general fund money on the center — envisioned as a state clearinghouse to promote the “STEM” academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math. He wants to put $10 million into a long-term “STEM Education Fund.”
By contrast, the center received $547,000 in general fund dollars for the current budget year, which ends June 30.
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