Do Americans understand that great public schools are necessary for scientific advances? While many worry about serious science issues or marvel at amazing scientific accomplishments, who’s looking at the science instruction children receive in school today?
Ask students what did you learn about science today? Are they excited? If they don’t seem to have an adequate answer, why? Even early learners are capable and should enjoy and be curious about science.
What are some of the roadblocks to solid science instruction in public schools?
Astronauts and other scientists attended public schools, so where’s the praise for those schools and teachers?
Some were surprised to learn that the US Artemis II astronauts, Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, attended public schools. Astronaut Jeremy Hansen also attended a Canadian public school. Artemis II Manager Matthew Ramsey, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the first female launch director, and Kelsey Young, the science director, also came from public high schools and public colleges. Jared Isaacman, who leads NASA, attended a public school.
Hansen’s parents visited their son’s school. North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper honored NASA Astronaut Christina Koch and celebrated North Carolina’s strong public schools. Victor Glover visited Ontario High School in 2023 (see 1:07), beaming with pride. Commander Reid Wiseman’s Dulaney High School honored him.
Donald Trump never praised those schools or teachers. His education secretary, Linda McMahon, never mentioned them.
For years, school privatization proponents have portrayed public education as failing, undermining public trust. The Reagan administration’s bogus report, A Nation at Risk, unjustly began this narrative. It continued with No Child Left Behind, A Race to the Top, and the Every Child Succeeds Act.
The current administration is scientifically particularly dangerous. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for example, has created chaos and unnecessary alarm with conspiracy theories surrounding vaccines, and he is not a scientist. Donald Trump called climate change a “con job.”
Tearing down public education has created a void in what students need for effective science education.
Currently, getting good science instruction depends on the neighborhood where students live. Many schools lack science resources. A 2021 study, Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM, found that many rural students missed out on high-quality science instruction.
Also, stripping DEI protections means that students with financial burdens struggle to obtain and stay in a science career. What future scientists will we miss out on?
Public schools fight to stay open facing enrollment declines primarily due to a falling birthrate and losing English Language Learners.
When underfunded schools close, students move to other public schools, creating overcrowding. Overcrowded schools face challenges delivering good science instruction.
The problem with high-stakes standardization and over testing.
Especially since No Child Left Behind, high stakes standardized tests have focused on reading and math, teaching to the test rules. Even if science standards are agreed upon, reading and math have taken primary focus with science an afterthought.
In 2025, Amanda L. Townley in Education Week wrote the following in Science Is Losing the Battle for America’s Trust: How Schools Can Help.
In the 21st century, science education from elementary through secondary levels has undergone significant shifts, often to its detriment. The emphasis on standardized testing in reading and mathematics has led to a sharp reduction in elementary science instruction. Time for science is inconsistently allocated across states and districts, often resulting in minimal, sporadic exposure to core scientific concepts. This deprives young learners—naturally curious at this stage—of meaningful inquiry experiences and foundational knowledge.
Elementary school is where children develop scientific curiosity, but high stakes standards squeeze out opportunities for science instruction. Without consistent access to developmentally appropriate science instruction, children have little chance of developing wonder and science skills.
All children should have access to science. A child doesn’t need to read fluently to learn to love science. Children develop reading skills with exposure to science books and magazines that they love.
Religion and a lack of accountability involving school choice.
Students may attend a parallel system of charter, private, parochial schools, or homeschooling. What kind of science instruction do students get? The answers to this Reddit post show that we don’t really know.
School choice permits tax dollars to go to these schools. This other Reddit post, Do Religious Schools Teach Science?, has some interesting answers of people’s experiences with science instruction in religious schools.
The fact that we don’t understand how science is taught in schools raises concerns. Some states have also worked to push religion into the classroom.
Qualified science teachers are necessary to teach solid science to students.
Instead of paying teachers good wages, and lifting the profession, the focus has been on reducing, even eliminating, a teacher’s role.
Teacher certification used to be demanded, but while teachers should still be certified, special allowances might be made where there are science teacher shortages. Some teachers teach with provisional certificates, or teach while they are earning a degree.
We also have alternative, revolving door noneducators entering public schools like charity endeavors (see Teach for America, and other nonprofits or for-profits that reduce teacher professionalism). We don’t know what they understand about science or how they will teach it.
For students to get great science instruction, they need well-qualified science teachers who also understand child development.
It would be nice if Americans invested in and drew individuals from from top universities to become science teachers who also studied children and teens and how to be great science teachers.
Technology can be useful, but how does it improve science instruction?
Billions have been spent on technology for schools, but how has it improved science instruction? Consider that teachers are still often underpaid yet responsible for utilizing technology in the classroom correctly.
Technology can offer glitzy digital programs and apps related to science. Some teachers find it useful and creative. But privacy concerns remain.
Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford states in Technology might be making education worse:
…my ongoing exploration of how [digital] platforms reduce students to quantifiable data suggests that we are removing the innovation and imagination of students and teachers in the process.
Consider that a student’s innovation and imagination are what can lead to scientific discoveries. Is there enough concern about the future of technology and especially AI in the classroom when it comes to science?
Understanding how to best use AI in the classroom and the world also depends on future scientists and the schools that instruct them. Human interactions can be most meaningful and engender caring about science and the world and its people, something we need desperately today.
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Again, ask students what they’ve learned in science. If they don’t have a good answer, or don’t seem interested, talk to the school principal. Simply put, if we want great science for the future, astronauts, engineers, medical researchers, doctors, and more, we need to teach children sound science. Because most children attend public schools, those schools should not be overlooked or dismissed.
Public schools must consistently teach children and teens solid science, appropriate for their grade and age, with great teachers and resources.
References
Townley, A.L. (2025, September 8). Science Is Losing the Battle for America’s Trust. How Schools Can Help. Education Week. Retrieved at: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-science-is-losing-the-battle-for-americas-trust-how-schools-can-help/2025/09.
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