Many educators and employers liken the state of science education today to a chemistry project gone awry: A bad mix of factors has come together--and it spells trouble.

By law, making students better at reading and math is the nation's priority, at least for now. When it comes to science, however, a quiet crisis is engulfing schools, say many scientists, educators, business leaders, and entrepreneurs.

It begins when young students skip challenging science courses. Later, it produces an understaffed or ill-trained corps of science instructors. The result is lagging U.S. performance in jobs, research, and innovation.

"The public is not hearing this," said Gerald Wheeler, a nuclear physicist and executive director of the National Science Teachers Association. "It's troubling that, at one level, we understand that we live in a technological society, but it's not playing out that way. Science is on the back burner."

Not everyone is pessimistic.

The country remains a dominant force in the advancement of science. Also, some observers say the picture of an "emerging and critical" problem in the labor force, as it was put by the government advisory National Science Board, is overblown.

But teachers in the field say they need help, mainly in professional development and enough class time to be creative. They also say the new federal emphasis on test scores and assessment is taking away from the opportunity for discovery and wonder in their classrooms.

"Is the goal now a set of scores, or is the goal a set of scientists?" said Janis Elliott, who teaches physics at a high school in Bellevue, Neb. "That's the difference--and you don't achieve those goals in the same way."

Teachers attending the National Education Association's annual meeting spoke about the state of science education in a group interview July 2 with The Associated Press.

Elliott, who trains other teachers in science trends, says she often must seek her own training from outside sources. They include military weapons experts, a private engineering company, and a cancer research institute.

"In physics, with infrared imagery, I have to tell kids how to use it, how they're going to need to know it, what computer applications come with it, how they're going to use it in medicine and in looking for bomb shelter in war ... We don't get that training in college," Elliott said.

Carol Bauer, an elementary school teacher in Yorktown, Va., says she sees inquisitive students who do not know what they are missing, either in school or in their own free time.

"The kids today don't have a chance to discover," she said. "They don't even get to go check out their own neighborhood. We have to know what they're doing all the time. They just don't know what exploration is."

Education Department leaders say science is not a second-class subject. They have led efforts aimed at improving teachers' skills, and they are watching for results. By 2007, under the No Child Left Behind law, all schools must test students in science at least once in elementary, middle, and high school.