PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

ESTM Act

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 7, 2001

Engineering, Science, Technology, and Mathematics Education Enhancement Act - ESTM Act - National Science Education Enhancement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), with respect to teacher professional development activities, to include support for mentoring activities for engineering, science, and technology, and mathematics (ESTM) teachers. Includes information on model ESTM teacher mentoring programs among the information which the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (Clearinghouse) is required to disseminate. Includes such mentoring programs under teacher professional development program requirements for State plans, accountability reports, and local activities. Revises ESEA provisions for the allocation and use of funds for the Clearinghouse. Requires such funds to be used to: (1) solicit and gather qualitative and evaluative materials and programs, review their evaluation, rank their effectiveness, and distribute results of reviews, as well as excerpts of materials and links to Internet sites and information on-line communities of users to teachers; and (2) establish an Internet site offering a search mechanism to assist site visitors in identifying information on ESTM education instructional materials and programs.Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants for summer professional development institutes for teachers. Includes providing technology training software and instructional materials to teachers among local uses of ESEA school technology resource grants. Requires a portion of each ESEA 21st Century Community Learning Centers program grant to be used to provide after-school day care services that focus on science activities.Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) make grants to State or local educational agencies (SEAs or LEAs), elementary or middle schools, or consortia to hire master teachers; (2) disseminate information on required courses of study for careers in ESTM education; (3) establish a program under which grants may be made to SEAs or LEAs, elementary or middle schools, or consortia for instruction of teachers for kindergarten through the 12th grade on the use of information technology in the classroom; (4) convene an annual ESTM business education conference; and (5) establish a committee for interagency coordination of science education programs. Authorizes the Director to make competitive awards to develop partnerships for distance learning of ESTM education to SEAs or LEAs or to elementary, middle, or secondary schools, under any NSF grant program for activities in which distance learning is integrated into the education process in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Directs the President, acting through the NSF, to provide scholarships to teachers at public schools in kindergarten through the 12th grade to participate in Federal, State, or private research programs, in order to provide opportunities for teachers to expand their knowledge of ESTM and research techniques.Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to treat technology training (tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology) as community service by college students under the work-study program.Directs the Secretary of Commerce to study and report to Congress on specified aspects of a comprehensive approach to providing technologically competent teachers for U.S. schools.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS] · R–KS

Committees

  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
2 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1986-1987)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.478 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.478 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.478 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.478 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources