West OC Times

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Rep. Michelle Steel (CA-45) and Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24), providing a $7 million increase to STARBASE, a youth STEM education program for elementary and secondary students under the Department of Defense (DoD). The funding is sourced from existing DoD resources, ensuring no overall increase in federal spending.

“Increasing support for STEM education is vital to solving California’s skilled labor shortage, and the STARBASE program plays a key role in improving outcomes for local students,” said Rep. Steel. “STARBASE is a true education success story, which I have seen firsthand in my visits to Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. I was proud to work with Rep. Carbajal in a bipartisan manner to increase support for this vital program in the House’s annual Department of Defense funding bill.”

“The Central Coast is lucky to have two STARBASE locations with one at Camp San Luis Obispo and one at Vandenberg Space Force Base,” said Rep. Carbajal. "I was happy to have led on this amendment with my fellow STARBASE Caucus co-chair that increases funding for this program that builds interest in STEM among kids.”

Steel and Carbajal serve as co-chairs of the STARBASE Caucus, a bipartisan group focused on supporting the DoD’s youth STEM education program nationwide. They recently led 37 House colleagues in calling for full funding of STARBASE, citing strong evidence of its positive impact on educational outcomes.

Evaluations show significant improvement in participants' understanding, interest, and ability in math and science, leading to increased enthusiasm for pursuing STEM education. Recent surveys indicated knowledge scores in chemistry, engineering, math, physics, and technology increased by 27.6%, while favorability scores for math and science also showed clear improvement.

###