Education Week reports that Congress approved legislation last week that seeks to bolster mathematics and science education through improved teacher recruitment and training and promote successful classroom practices through federal grants.

The bipartisan legislation, which the House approved by a 367-57 vote and the Senate passed unanimously, had the backing of numerous business and education organizations. Members of Congress have dubbed the proposals, now consolidated into one bill, "competitiveness" legislation, because they believe it will strengthen the quality of the U.S. workforce and gird the American economy against foreign competition.

The bill now goes to President Bush, who lawmakers believe will sign the bill.

However, at the same time the National Conference of State Legislatures has taken a hard-line against any form of national academic standards, declaring that any attempt to unite school curricula across states would be unacceptable until perceived flaws in the federal No Child Left Behind Act are fixed.

The strongly worded new policy against national standards--even voluntary ones--prompted virtually no debate today and was approved on a voice vote during the Denver-based group's business meeting at its annual conference here, which drew nearly 9,000 attendees. NCSL policies such as the new one on national standards set the Washington lobbying agenda of the legislative group.

So Congress wants to improve our science and math achievement in public schools--which is pretty dismal but so is our performance in language where our students spend class time text messaging their friends--and the states want the money but they don't want to be accountable for what actually goes into the curriculum. Some schools will proabably claim that their sports programs actually meet math and science requirements for the grant monies...understanding the physics of baseball design makes homeruns go farther, when we all know it really is steroid use, DYK. (Don't you know, for those who don't.)