Quote to note.

Spellings, Margaret

"I want to talk about 'math phobia.'.... People think, oh, I don't want my daughter to be an engineer, she'll be a freak. And of course that's not true. She'll be successful.... And we hear mom from the soccer field say, 'You know, I don't want my kids to be stressed out; they're not developmentally ready to take algebra yet.' This sort of thing, that kind of thing, is insidious. That doesn't add up to building demand for vigorous coursework, math and science competency, and so forth. So I want you all to be a part of the demand for change at the grassroots level for the kinds of things that we must do, if your company is going to be successful, and if our country is going to be successful."

--Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (1/12/06), addressing the Microsoft Women's Conference in Seattle