In his memoir, Mandate for Change, Dwight D. Eisenhower spelled out the importance of the national interstate highway system, an idea he championed as president in the 1950s:
“More than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America. Its impact on the American economy — the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open
up — was beyond calculation.”

Fifty years later, we face another big challenge that similarly limits our economic opportunity and threatens our national prosperity: a shortage of math, science and foreign language teachers. Just as the lack of an interstate highway system prevented America from reaching its full economic and social potential in the first half of the 20th century, the lack of teachers in these critical subjects is preventing America from being fully prosperous and competitive in the first half of the 21st century.

A half century ago, America’s economy needed the physical infrastructure of roads. Today, our economy depends on intellectual infrastructure — workers with technical capacity and international competence. In the 1950s, entire regions were isolated from the rest of the nation by geography and a lack of roads. Today, many of the students in rural and urban areas are isolated from the global economy and society because they do not have the necessary skills and knowledge. One of the main reasons they do not have these skills and knowledge is a shortage of teachers in math, science and foreign languages.

The parallels between these two challenges do not stop there.
We can also look to the partnership established between the federal and state governments to build the interstate highway system as a model for how we can address the lack of teachers in critical subjects. The states have been primarily responsible for building, operating and owning highways, while the federal government has taken the lead on financing and creating standards for them. States match a percentage of federal highway funding, and the existence of a match makes appropriating money easier. Federal funding is also contingent upon the states’ acceptance of design standards, implemented
to ensure consistency throughout the highway system.
These two factors — matching funds and consistent standards — are the keys to the phenomenal success of the interstate
highway system.

It is time for a similar partnership between the federal and state governments that will produce more math, science and foreign language teachers. The states are (and should be) primarily responsible for preparing and providing professional development for teachers. The federal government should take the lead in funding salary increases for teachers in critical subjects and in setting high standards for the training of these teachers. The same hallmarks of the interstate highway system should be the pillars of this new partnership — matching funds and consistent standards. Federal funds should be matched by a certain percentage of state funds for teacher salary increases. And if a state’s standards for teachers decline, then it should not be eligible for federal funds. We expect the highways in every state to have consistently high quality and safe design. We should expect the same of our teachers: consistently high quality and strong preparation, regardless of where they teach.

Although many of us take the interstate highway system for granted today, it was a transformational idea in the 1950s. It transformed entire regions of America from poor and isolated to more prosperous and better connected. The federal and state governments entered into a genuine partnership and accomplished one of the largest construction projects in human history — one that improved the quality of life and opportunities for all Americans. Today, we can transform entire school districts through an infusion of better compensated math, science and foreign language teachers. We can create more educational and economic opportunities for our students, and we can prepare them to live and work in a high-tech global society.

American history provides many precedents of our federal
and state governments working together to solve serious challenges. I believe the interstate highway system provides a powerful precedent that we can use today to address the shortage of teachers in critical subjects. By creating a similar partnership, based on matching funds and consistent standards, we can solve this problem and meet the needs of our students and our nation in the 21st century.