Strengthening Computer Science Education in 113th Congress
Computer science is now the primary driver for job growth throughout all STEM fields. More than 50% of projected jobs in STEM fields are in computing occupations, these occupations dominate “help wanted” ads and computer science is one of the hottest degrees for new graduates. Despite this, our K-‐12 system continues to marginalize computer science education and often federal, state and local polices are key barriers. We must remove these barriers so our education system can put students on a path to fill high-‐demand, high-‐skilled, high-‐pay computing jobs across all sectors of our economy. While education decisions are vested in state and local authority, Congress should ensure there are minimal barriers in federal policies for K-‐12 computer science education. These barriers exist in K-‐12 legislation the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Higher Education Act, and the authorization of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Current programs are focused toward the “core” of what is taught in schools throughout the country and are often defined in a way that can exclude K-‐12 computer science or bias programs and those in states and districts who make decisions about public education dollars away from this subject. Computer science is typically not considered to be part of that core. Legislation to address these and other issues has been introduced in the House and Senate. Representatives Susan Brooks (R-‐IN) and Jared Polis (D-‐CO) have introduced the Computer Science Education Act (HR 2536) and Senators Robert Casey (D-‐PA) and Marco Rubio (R-‐FL) have introduced the Computer Science Education and Jobs Act (S 1407) in the Senate. While the details of the bills differ, they would both create breathing room through incremental policy changes that clarify computer science can and should be addressed by existing federal programs. The legislation proposed for the 113th Congress would: • Be cost neutral – there are no new programs • Revise certain definitions and add computer science and programs that support it as an allowable use of funds in certain laws • Not require any state or other entity to teach computer science Simply put, this legislation would clarify that existing and currently funded federal programs could invest in computer science and support local and state educators who want to put computer science curriculum and teachers in schools. Both proposals would amend the definition of “core academic subjects” in ESEA to add computer science and build on that proposed change to create more support for computer science education in federal education policies. See code.org or computinginthecore.org for partners and more information on computer science education Contact:
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