FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Della Cronin 202.349.2333
[email protected] REPRESENTATIVES BROOKS AND POLIS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO BOLSTER K-‐12 COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION June 27, 2013 -‐-‐ WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Susan Brooks (R-‐IN) and Representatives Jared Polis (D-‐CO) along with others introduced legislation that addresses the urgent need for more computer science education in the country’s K-‐12 classrooms. The Computer Science Education Act will strengthen computer science education by changing federal education policies to support providing access to computer science in the country’s elementary, middle and high schools. Computer science is the primary driver for job growth throughout the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the year 2020, there will be 9.2 million jobs in the STEM fields. Half of those jobs—4.6 million— will be in computing or information technology. Even today, the computing industry is searching for talent to fill thousands of jobs and companies like Microsoft, Google, Oracle and SAS joined Computing in the Core to support changes in federal policies that would foster interest in computer science and raise awareness around the exciting and lucrative opportunities waiting for young people who pursue the subject. Unfortunately, the K-‐12 education system isn’t doing enough to nurture interest in computer science among students. And we need to clarify federal polices to make sure computer science programs in states are eligible for federal funding. “Training a new generation of innovators requires a keen focus on the skills that will drive our 21st century workforce,” said Representative Brooks. “Computer Science is one of those skills. Empowering our superintendents, principals and educators to provide robust, relevant and effective computer science curriculum in our classrooms will ensure more students enter the workforce with the tools they need to succeed. It will also help us close gender and race gaps that have existed in this field for far too long. I’m proud to introduce a bipartisan bill that accomplishes these goals with no extra costs to taxpayers and no federal mandates.” Not enough students have access to computer science classes, nor are they being encouraged to take these courses. This legislation begins to address the needs of our country to provide these courses to students and support the computer science educators who teach them.
CinC, a non-‐partisan coalition that works to ensure access to quality computer science courses, and Code.org, a non-‐profit dedicated to growing computer programming education, support this legislation. CinC members are a mix of corporations, associations and non-‐profit organizations including Microsoft, Google, Oracle, SAS, the College Board, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Computer Science Teachers Association, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT), IEEE-‐Computer Society, Computing Research Association and the Anita Borg Institute. “The United States is facing a growing shortage of skilled talent that is impacting American competitiveness and the job opportunities available to the next generation. Put simply, our nation faces an increasing shortage of individuals with the skills necessary to create and deploy the next generation of innovative products that will help drive our future economic growth,” said Fred Humphries, Vice President for U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft. “At Microsoft, we have experienced this challenge firsthand —we currently have over 3,000 computer science related job openings in the U.S. We strongly support policy changes that recognize computer science as a key element of STEM education. And we remain committed to broadening access to computer science in high schools across the country.” “We need computer science and computational thinking taught in our middle and high schools,” said Maggie Johnson, Director of Education, Google. “Our country’s schools are falling short of their obligation to prepare young people for the jobs that are available in technology. They are also failing the high-‐tech industry that relies on the K-‐12 system to give them workers with the technical skills they need.” “We are squandering valuable resources by not providing a computer science education to every student,” said Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-‐founder, NCWIT. “In particular, women and minorities represent a growing, untapped talent pool for filling technology-‐driven jobs and enhancing U.S. innovation.” “The Computer Science Education Act makes computer science education part of the important conversation about how to improve the country's K-‐12 education system,” said John White, CEO, ACM. “The subject is a relative newcomer to a system not known for its ability to quickly adapt, and this bill will help make sure that computer science is being taught in our schools.” In a time of limited federal resources, it should be noted that the legislative proposal does not create any new programs or request additional federal dollars; it simply revises certain definitions and programs to clearly offer computer science as an option to state and local educators deciding how to prepare the country’s young people for the future.
### About Computing in the Core and Code.org Computing in the Core (CinC) and Code.org are dedicated to improving access to rigorous and engaging K-‐12 computer science education. CinC is a non-‐partisan advocacy coalition of associations, corporations, scientific societies, and other non-‐profits that strive to elevate computer science education to a core academic subject in K-‐12 education. Code.org is a non-‐ profit dedicated to growing computer programming education with the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn how to code. CinC and Code.org, and our partners, are raising awareness about the need for more K-‐12 computer science education and working to change policies at the national and state level to build a strong foundation and robust pipeline for the future of computer science. To find out more visit www.computinginthecore.org and code.org.
