[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by ebarker

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Establish the "Teacher STEM Incentive Award Program" administered by the U.S Department of Education.

The award program is simple.

Any public school teacher that coaches a robotics team and takes it to a competition will receive a teacher stipend. The stipend will be listed on a table of stipends that describe the amount of money versus the robotics program. Up to two teachers per team are eligible. The regional director for the robotics competitions would certify that the teacher complied with the requirement which would then trigger US Dept. of Ed. to make the award. No other assessment would be required on a teacher/team basis by US Dept. of Ed, however the department would be authorized to assess the overall program and report accordingly.

I'll pick some stipend amounts out of the air.
FIRST FRC $ 1,500
FIRST FTC $ 1,000
FIRST FLL $ 750
VEX $ 1,000
MATE $ 1,000
and a few other programs

The program sunsets in 5 years, meaning the states have to make arrangements to pick up the slack.

Under the guidelines above the 1st year cost would be under $ 40 M / year.

There is a second way to write this legislation that may be more attractive to teams.
......Offer 1/2 the stipend amount with the stipulation that the state or local district match the amount.
......And offer 1/2 the team registration fee with similiar state / district match.
......And the $ 40 M would still cover this plan.


It may make some mentors cranky but one of the biggest impediments to teacher participation is the lack of incentives. If the Federal sector said I'll put up half if you put up half then that would be substantial progress.

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The emphasis on "It might make some mentors cranky but ..." is mine. What makes me cranky is failing to get teachers involved.

I believe teachers are inadequately compensated for their efforts. Getting teachers with STEM background is even more difficult because people with those skills can find career paths that pay much better and have better working conditions. I fully understand their reluctance to take on the additional effort to support an FRC team. I believe an award/incentive structure for teachers involved in FIRST would be a good thing. Whether teachers' unions would endorse such a program might be a different issue.