Out West, More Engineers

Facing a shortage of engineers in the next decade, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in December announced a program to educate 20,000 new engineers. At state public universities, the program would expedite the certification process for the approximately 3,000 California veterans who performed engineering-related military jobs. The plan also would expand the High Tech High state charter school organization—which created 10 engineering-focused charter high schools in 2006—to begin at the K-12 level.