Microsoft Director of Community Affairs Jane Broom has an interesting post today over on Microsoft on the Issues about the importance of making computer science courses a core part of high school curriculums.
“In a global economy that’s increasingly driven by technological innovation, computer science skills have become as fundamental as the traditional ‘three Rs.’ But unfortunately, our nation’s schools haven’t been able to keep up with the incredible pace of change,” Broom writes. “The state of Washington is typical. Of the 770 public and private high schools in the Evergreen State, only 35 offer the Advanced Placement course in computer science.”
One step in the right direction would be to make computer science count toward a high school graduation requirement in math or science. Only nine states do that today, and Washington isn’t one of them, Broom adds. But thanks to strong leadership from lawmakers in Olympia, Wash., including Rep. Drew Hansen, Rep. Cyrus Habib, Rep. Chad Magendanz and Rep. Roger Freeman, this might be about to change.
Head on over to Microsoft on the Issues to read the rest of this story and find out what legislators in Washington State are doing to address this problem.
Jeff Meisner
Microsoft News Center Staff