The achievement gap in math and science between students in the U.S. and other OECD countries is growing, as the U.S. falls further and further behind its peers. At the same time, California continues to lag behind other states within the U.S., with our state ranking 43rd or worse across all states in mathematics and science proficiency in grades 4 and 8.¹ In a state where the economy has been driven by innovation and ingenuity, we cannot let this continue. This is an issue of educational equity and workforce readiness that cannot go unaddressed. It is essential that California's students are college and career ready, and able to make informed choices about their daily lives.

Corporate leaders from such companies as Genentech, Raytheon, Fluor, Bechtel, Adobe, Apple, Google, Cisco, SUN Microsystems and others exemplify the kinds of inventive thinkers California needs to create ingenious new products, processes and even entire industries for the 21st century. While today's students have much to learn from such workers and leaders, existing efforts to tap into the intellectual resources and human capital possessed by the corporate sector have been insufficient. Similarly, although California is one of the most demographically, socially and economically diverse states in the nation, little has been done to truly harness the strengths associated with the state's diversity for the development of a globally competitive STEM workforce.

These missed opportunities are occurring at a time when California's reputation as a world leader in science and technology is being threatened by several significant, long-term trends:

• Rapid growth of jobs in STEM-related fields and an aging science and engineering workforce
• Very low percentages of women, Hispanics, and African-Americans in the STEM workforce.
• An educational pipeline that cannot meet projected workforce demands
• An educational system that has yet to fully embrace the development of 21st Century skills