More Resources Spain & U.S. Statement on Scientific & Technological Cooperation     English | Spanish

Madrid, Spain — U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed both Spanish and American business leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain this morning in Madrid. She discussed the need for public-private partnerships and for businesses to engage in education and innovation to prepare students for the 21st century marketplace. She also highlighted her meeting yesterday with Spanish Fulbright students preparing to travel to the U.S. for educational exchanges. Spain has the second largest Fulbright program in Europe, and the Secretary hopes all Fulbright students will continue to give back to their communities in education, math, science, research and other fields as a result of their educational exchange experience.

Following are excerpts from today's remarks:

"We need a constant conversation between the business community and education to understand the needs of the marketplace. Public-private partnerships that invest in education and research will create new innovation and new development."

"Without the strong relationship between the business community and education, we will not be successful. I call on the business community in both our countries to engage the private sector in math and science education."

"It's important that we run faster because today's employers want workers with "pocket protector" skills—students that are creative problem solvers with strong math and science skills."

"It's important to learn languages because we all have the need for more understanding around the world."

"We can learn a lot from our friends in other countries about language teaching and language development."

"Spain is a top destination for students from the U.S., and we want to encourage more educational exchanges."

"This year, President Bush created the National Math Panel to address the best ways for math skills to be taught and developed and is focused on the need to strengthen teacher training—something we share with many countries."

"We are proud of our innovative and flexible higher education system and public-private partnerships, but we must address our skills gap between high school and post-secondary education. The business community is helping to address this issue."

For more information on U.S. Department of Education initiatives, please visit www.ed.gov.

###

Top

Back to June 2006