I’ve returned to writing posts on the Art of Teaching Science weblog after 3 1/2 week hiatus.  I spent most of the time in Texas participating the Round Top Antiques Festival, witnessing the blooming of the Texas Bluebonnets, and reading about the curriculum changes that will probably be enacted by the Texas State Board of Education.

There is are several important issues that I want to explore in the next few posts.  Today, the USA and Russia signed the New START Treaty that among other things, will reduce the number of nuclear weapons held by each country.   In 1981 I made my first of 25 trips to Russia (then part of the USSR) as part of the Global Thinking Project, and it is context that I will talk about the significance of this treaty, and the kind of thinking that is emerging from the White House about security issues.

The US Congress has passed and the President signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which not only extends health care to millions of people who did not have it, but also will infuse our healthcare system with new science and technological tools.  These are worth exploring.

And the U.S. Department of Education awarded Delaware and Tennessee Race to the Top funds.  Only these two states had their grant proposals funded ($100 million for Delaware, and $500 million for Tennessee).  Nearly $4 billion in the Race to the Top funds still remain to be awarded, and June 1 is the deadline for the second round of funding.  I’ll explore the Race to the Top, and discuss how this effort will influence education in the years ahead.