I get it.  I really do.  Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are important to the future of our country.  Discoveries and innovations in these fields can cure cancer, develop alternative fuel sources, and literally redefine how we interact with our world.  I think that's fabulous... rock on.

But this sudden (and vehement) fixation on these elements of our children's education concerns me.  Actually, it frightens me.  Let me cite two examples...

When the National Mathematics and Science Partnerships Act (S.1262) was introduced, the K-12 STEM Coalition wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate stating that adopting the act would augment education programs (at the NSF) which "will result in enhanced teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which is of critical importance to our global economy, our national security, and the future job prospects of our children."

The STEMEd Caucus Steering Committee (comprised of 127 representatives of Congress) states that, "Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education is responsible for providing our country with three kinds of intellectual capital:

• Scientists and engineers who will continue the research and development that is central to the economic growth of our country
• Technologically proficient workers who are capable of dealing with the demands of a science based, high technology workforce; and
• Scientifically literate voters and citizens who make intelligent decisions about public policy and who understand the world around them."

"Intellectual capital"?  "National security"? "Economic Growth"?  Is this what our education system has become... an extension of our nation's financial and military agenda?

Let me repeat... I get it.  I'm all for security (physical and fiscal)... but is that all there is?  Is that all we have to offer our children?  More importantly, is that all our children need to "make intelligent decisions about public policy and ... understand the world around them?"

Science alone cannot instill moral and ethical values.  Technology and engineering don't instill an appreciation of the scope of human experience.  Math doesn't provide an internal compass by which we can make healthy productive choices in our lives.

Science offers knowledge, but the arts offer understanding and the voice with which the knowledge can be expressed.  Sir Isaac Newton said, "The formation of representational concepts [i.e. artful concepts], more than anything else, distinguishes the artist from the nonartist…The artist's privilege is the capacity to apprehend the nature and meaning of an experience in the terms of a given medium, and thus to make it tangible."

This rallying around the STEM subjects is like a panicked reflex-response to the circumstances past policies have brought us to.   Leaving the arts out of the equation will create different and more difficult to discern problems in the future. 

Science and art are two sides of the same coin.  STEM is fine... but we must include ALM (arts, literature, and music) in the equation.  Only then can we give our students the education they need to guide the future of our nation and our planet.