Youth opportunity: STEM haves and have-nots

Like it or not, Tacoma is experiencing growing pains.

The city and Pierce County are ardently working to develop mass transit, improve Interstate 5 and even self-advocate to be Amazon’s new host city -- all in the name of remaining competitive and bringing Seattle’s lucrative STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) career opportunities to Tacoma.

But there is a problem.

My professional experience working with Tacoma’s low-income families has led me to understand that although there are competitive STEM programs available to low-income youth, there are limited viable transportation options to get them to and from such programs.

Tacoma is a beautiful and diverse city, but if it wants to invest in its own, it must develop a robust way to provide all youth, regardless of socioeconomic status, the opportunity to participate in STEM programs.

When Tacoma’s youth miss out, Tacoma misses out.

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Youth opportunity: STEM haves and have-nots."