On March 22, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. Her testimony supported the proposed FY 2013 budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). As proposed, EHR would receive $875.6 million in FY 2013, an increase of $46.6 million, or 5.6%, over the FY 2012 appropriation.

Levine’s testimony called attention to EHR’s role in furthering research and development in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and supported the new plan in the budget to create a more robust R&D program that is integrated within the four divisions of EHR. The NSF budget called for investments in the following core R&D areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, broadening participation and institutional capacity in STEM, and STEM professional workforce preparation.

The testimony also supported EHR’s efforts to evaluate and conduct longitudinal studies on its cross-directorate programs. Levine noted that EHR has sustained investment in high quality research and research infrastructure despite an overall decline of 2.3%, accounting for inflation, since 2006.