June 03, 2009

Governor Riley Promotes State’s Math and Science Initiative as Teachers Receive Training

PRATTVILLE - Governor Bob Riley visited several hundred teachers going through two weeks of training this summer so their students can benefit from the state’s math and science initiative.

More than 6,000 teachers from 273 schools are receiving training this summer in the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI). The initiative stresses a hands-on approach to learning math and science, and schools that are part of the program receive kits that contain all the material needed to teach the lessons.

Governor Riley has championed AMSTI since he first came into office because the initiative has gotten results.

“On every test given by the State Department of Education, AMSTI schools outperform non-AMSTI schools,” said Governor Riley. “Providing our children with a stronger foundation in math and science is essential if they are to compete for the jobs of the future. That’s why we’ve got to continually invest in this program that has a proven track record of success.”

In order to become an AMSTI school, teachers from the school must attend a two-week training institute for two summers. During the training, they learn teaching lessons with high-tech equipment their students will get to use in the classroom like spectrophotometers, DNA replicators and gel electrophoresis.

Of the 273 schools participating this summer, 219 are receiving their second summer of training. The other 54 schools joined the initiative in January and are completing their first summer of AMSTI training.

Currently, 627 public schools in the state are AMSTI schools. That’s about 45 percent of all public schools in Alabama. In the Fiscal Year 2010 education budget, the Legislature included funding for AMSTI of $29 million, or about $12 million less than Governor Riley proposed.

With the $29 million funding level, AMSTI will be able to continue to support the existing 627 AMSTI schools, but no new schools will be added. Had the Governor’s budget proposal passed, AMSTI would have added 150 additional schools this year and 200 more next year. That would have expanded the program to 70 percent of Alabama public schools.

“In the upcoming campaigns, we’ll hear a lot of talk about ‘fixing’ education in this state. The best way is to build on the foundation we’ve established with these programs that are getting results and setting Alabama apart, like AMSTI, the Reading Initiative and ACCESS Distance Learning,” Governor Riley said.

Other AMSTI training institutes are being held this summer in schools in Birmingham, Mobile, Dallas County, Demopolis, Decatur and other locations.