Education: the springboard or anchor for America´s future

The new national strategy for American education, called America 2000, is discussed, and the engineers´ response to this initiative is examined. It is noted that engineers have a long tradition of individual efforts in support of mathematics and science education, and believe they are especially qualified to make substantial contributions in helping to improve precollege mathematics and science literacy. Therefore, the engineering community has committed itself to support the President´s goal to make American students preeminent in math and science achievement. Toward that end, 45 engineering professional societies have joined together as `Engineers for Education´. The organization of this effort is discussed