The quality of public education is primarily at risk as a result of inadequate funding and a lack of science and mathematics teachers. These problems are especially acute when mills are closing and more people are stepping into the unemployment line.

While all Americans want a better education for our children, we have not embraced the idea that public education can come from sources other than public schools. Public education is an important building block for our society, and public schools are just one possible medium used to achieve this end result.

While state and local bureaucracies may not adjust rapidly to economic changes, we could use some “outside the box” thinking to serve our elementary and secondary educational needs. We may not be able to increase per pupil expenditures at the state or local level, but we can provide special programs at the regional level, instead of attempting to stretch each school’s budget for more services in every school.

Here are two working examples that could be applicable all over Maine to improve public education without demanding more of already strained public school budgets:

The Maine Junior Engineering Technical Society offers a junior engineering and mathematics afterschool program in Greater Bangor for grades 4-9. Students meet once a week for two hours and learn engineering principles. Beginning in elementary or middle school, the junior engineering and mathematics program establishes a foundation of analytical reasoning as well as a basis for the communication of the future needs of the global job market in the context of age-appropriate challenges.

The program is based on the recommendations and guidelines of the National Science Board publication, “Science and Engineering Indicators.” Years or decades of transition would be needed to change curriculum and more importantly, culture, into a system that effectively prepares students to become the science and engineering work force needed in the 21st century.

In contrast, this program already exists as a means for talented and interested students to enhance their problem-solving and creative skills, and is not a budget burden that is encumbered by a single town, but may be shared regionally.

The second working examples are the American Mathematics Competitions. AMC offer a one-time competition every year in November for middle schools (called the AMC 8 competition) and in February for high schools (called AMC 10 and AMC 12). These competitions are the premier challenge mathematics competitions for North American students – they are more challenging than various state and local competitions and much cheaper than any other mathematics competition held in Maine. No travel, school bus or chaperones are required.

The registration for each school costs $44 (including a bundle of 10 exams). Students may start as early as grade 5, with AMC 8, and develop their talent year by year through the competition. While AMC were designed for North American students, students from Taiwan to Australia to Europe take the exam and the results are published. Students have the opportunity for international comparison of their results for the cost of $44 per school and never leave their school grounds. As AMC follow up with feedback of the results and statistics, students are motivated to improve year after year as the most valuable comparison is their performance from year to year.

This year, more Maine students participated in AMC than in the past 54 years – since AMC has been in existence. This is a step in the right direction. We did not have students in grades 5 and 6 participating from Maine, but we hopefully will have them in the years to come.

Our economic reality will help us to get back to the age-old principle of self-reliance by educating the public outside the realm of budget constraints and public schools. Everyone who is concerned over public education should realize that the sparse school budgets of today actually represent much higher per pupil expenditures than 25 years ago (inflation adjusted expenditures).

We have more teachers per student and yet reading and mathematics abilities are lower than 20 to 50 years ago. It is time to look for alternative solutions and this is what we are suggesting here.

The reader may say that parents would rather have more arts programs – from creative arts to martial arts – than mathematics and engineering programs to supplement bare educational budgets. I am with them, and I would like to invite other creative solutions for those areas on a regional scale.

As a mathematician, I know the power of mathematics and I know that creative mathematical thinking improves just about every area of learning. This is why from the many needs I chose engineering and mathematics for the “outside of the box” solutions to the budget woes of public education.

Dr. Eva J. Szillery is the state director of the American Mathematics Competitions and works with the Maine Junior Engineering Technical Society. She is available at evaszillery-mmsets@me.acadia.net.