Stumping for science

By MEGAN DOYLE

Monitor staff

Last modified: 7/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Bill Nye the Science Guy wore his trademark bow tie as he campaigned for President Obama in Concord yesterday, but he left his lab coat behind during his stump visit to New Hampshire.



Nye, science educator and TV host, joined Rep. Rob Andrews of New Jersey yesterday at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center to promote Obama's agenda on public education. The pair criticized Republican candidate Mitt Romney's plans to reduce the number of jobs in the public sector, which they said would cut teaching jobs and hurt public education.



"This election is a choice, and when it comes to education, anyway for me, the choice is clear," Nye said to a group gathered in the Discovery Center auditorium. "The president supports moving education forward, supporting our teachers and administrators and public



education, and the other side, for lack of a better expression, just wants to take it for granted."



The visit was part of the New Hampshire Obama campaign's "Out-Educate" initiative, two weeks of events focused on the president's record of supporting education. Nye also spoke yesterday to middle school students at a summer science camp about space exploration, but he directed his more partisan comments at the center to members of the news media and then a group of visitors.



"When you start cutting teacher jobs, education jobs, not just teachers but administrators, tutors, what you end up with is a much grimmer future," Nye said to a group of reporters. "There is no greater investment than education. There is nothing better for your society and for your ultimate economic development."



Andrews, a Democratic member of the House Committee for Education and the Workforce, targeted Romney's support of a budget plan proposed this spring by Rep. Paul Ryan and the House Budget Committee. The Senate rejected the plan in May.



"Here's what the Ryan budget would do," Andrews said. "It would result in the layoff of 38,000 reading tutors around this country, including here in New Hampshire. It would result in the termination of employment for 30,000 special education teachers, men and women who teach kids with autism and other learning challenges."



Andrews highlighted Obama's education work, like the "Race to the Top" initiative and increased support for pre-kindergarten programs. He also criticized Romney's record as governor, saying the Republican candidate hurt public education in his state by cutting thousands of jobs, including teaching jobs, in the public sector.



If he supported budget cuts in the public sector, Andrews argued Romney would only hurt the national economy.



"You're not going to reduce debt, you're not going to grow jobs, you're not going to grow prosperity without quality education," Andrews said.



Representatives from the Romney campaign could not be reached for comment yesterday.



Nye echoed Andrews's message, saying cutting teaching jobs would push scientific progress backward.



"Do we want to continue advancing, for example, science and especially technology, things we make and build and the problems we solve using science or engineering?" Nye said. "If we want to have better engineering, better science, better quality of life, we need education. If voters choose to go backward, we, our quality of life will go down."



Nye encouraged voters to volunteer their time and support Obama's re-election.



"Let us work together and, dare I say it, change the world," Nye said.



Allison Moberger was among the crowd that laughed at Nye's catchphrase, a signature line from his popular kids' TV show. A chance to meet the Science Guy drew Moberger,, 24, to yesterday's campaign event, she said, but she also agreed with his message in support of Obama. She said she did not believe Romney would benefit people like teachers who survive on small incomes.



"I really don't trust Romney to do anything good for anybody who doesn't make over $1 million," she said.



Moberger, who has worked as a teacher, said she hoped to see fewer pay cuts for educators in the future.



"Teaching is one of the hardest jobs, and they don't get paid nearly enough," she said.



Cliff and Ann Reuter traveled from their summer home in Meredith to hear Nye and Andrews speak about Obama yesterday. The couple lives in Tennessee during the rest of the year, Ann Reuter said, and they are active volunteers for the Obama campaigns in both Tennessee and New Hampshire.



As she stood with her "Obama" button pinned squarely to her shirt, Reuter, 65, said she does not want to see a new government withdraw support from public education. When she steps into the voting booth in November, she said supporting public education is among her top concerns.



"I'm worried that some candidates push vouchers for private education," she said. "They can't prove private schools do a better job."



Also among the crowd at the Discovery Center was Concord resident Alex Loomis, who will be a college junior in the fall. Loomis, 18, said education was top on his priority list as he prepares to vote in his first election.



"I'm a college student, and I'm paying for that with loans," Loomis said. "I would like to see more funding and more professors."



Even though issues like the economy and job creation are perhaps bigger talking points for the candidates, Andrews also said he believes Americans still are concerned about education as they head to voting booths in November.



"You don't have economic growth without scientific expansion, scientific knowledge," Andrews said. "The future of this economy depends on having the best workers in the world, which depends on having the best education in the world. . . . Education and economics are two sides of the same coin."



(Megan Doyle can be reached at 369-3316 or mdoyle@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @megan_e_doyle.)



CORRECTION: Alliison Moberger's last name was spelled wrong in the original version of this story.





