Good Morning/Afternoon I am Lois Adams-Rodgers, Deputy Executive Director at the Council of Chief State School Officers here in Washington, DC. CCSSO serves the head of pre-k-12 public education in the 50 states and 6 territories. We are a nonpartisan organization that provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. Through targeted policy and effective advocacy, CCSSO provides a platform for chiefs to be heard. The organization also undertakes projects to help state education agencies understand, devise, and execute policy; adopt initiatives to promote educational reform efforts; and engage in collaborative exchanges to share best practices and model solutions. One of the initiatives we have spent some significant time on in the past year is STEM.