NAC Committee Is Against NASA EPO Changes
NASA Advisory Council Astrophysics Subcommittee Letter 1 May 2013
Issue: Removal of EPO Functions from SMD: “Finding: The result of this long-term dedication to education and public outreach is an extremely efficient process where scientists and educators routinely collaborate on developing high-impact content for education and public engagement. In contrast, the proposed realignment shifts all education and outreach efforts far from the actual science being communicated. The end result may appear to improve the process by removal of functional redundancies, but actually separates the content providers at NASA from the agencies tasked with providing EPO programs. This will likely necessitate new layers of personnel to interface between NASA scientists and educational professionals in the Department of Education, NSF, and the Smithsonian. Furthermore, the new implementation effectively counteracts the astrophysics community’s long-standing dedication to outreach and education, by clearly making these activities “somebody else’s job.”
I wonder how many of the OMB crew that mandated this have ever actually taught science to kids?
Any chance that NASA will actually listen to their Advisory Council? Perhaps Congress will. I generally don’t approve of the way Congress automatically goes the opposite direction of the Administration regardless of the issue, but this time it might be a good thing. Maybe Richard Shelby could be convinced to oppose this bonehead move just on general party principles.