September 2010

President Obama said his Administration will attempt to recruit and train 10,000 new science and math teachers over the next two years.

The ambitious target is part of the administration's continuing focus on improving education in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM). President Obama pointed out that American students are currently 21st in the world rankings for science education and 25th in math and called those numbers " a sign of long-term decline that has to be reversed. "When I came into office, I set a goal of moving our nation from the middle to the top of the pack in math and science education. Strengthening STEM education is vital to preparing our students to compete in the 21st century economy and we need to recruit and train math and science teachers to support our nation's students," President Obama said. He argued even suburban and well-performing schools have seen their students' performance in math and science decline at a time when those fields are increasingly vital to the nation's economic interests. He said his administration would be placing a heavy emphasis on getting better teachers in those fields and providing with the support and incentives they need to remain in the field. President Obama also said he believes American students should have longer school years, noting that U.S. schools currently give students a month more for summer break than most advanced countries.

Three parallel events in US communications policy today, all reported on widely - but with a common thread.

1) Law enforcement and national security officials want to make sure that they have the same ability to execute warrants and surveillance orders online that they had in the switched-telephone-circuit age - which will mean substantial government design mandates for new software, hardware, and communications facilities.

2) Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is introducing the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act that would allow to Department of Justice to instruct Internet service providers, domain name registries/registrars, or perhaps other actors (it's not clear) to shut down, or block access to, online sites found to be "dedicated to infringing activities."

3) The Comcast/NBCU merger is steaming ahead, and even though neither DOJ nor FCC has yet approved the deal Jeffrey Zucker is out, Steve Burke will be running NBCU, and Vivendi is selling its interest in NBC for $2 billion.

What's the common thread? As access points to the big pipe consolidate, the idea of using bottlenecks to carry out the desires of both content providers and government becomes easier to implement - and the bottlenecks know that they have the upper hand because both content and government need them. New laws, new institutions, and new asymmetries of information are appearing, and the objection that "this is a big change" doesn't get much attention. It is, certainly, a big change, but there are many big actors who are perfectly happy that way. Nothing to see here, move on, business as usual.

A media brawl is breaking out in suburban Chicago as new online and print upstarts inflame longtime newspaper rivalries in communities that ring the city. While the Chicago Tribune cherry-picks editorial staff from the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald to expand its suburban coverage, AOL Inc.'s hyper-local online news site Patch.com is rolling out coverage in 29 suburbs and has plans for 31 more. They're duking it out to grab untapped suburban readers and advertisers before competitors do. The legacy newspapers are redoubling efforts to cover the local market, seeking to stem declining circulations and buoy ad revenue. Meanwhile, national and expanding local news organizations are eyeing Chicago's suburbs for growth, too.