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7 Largest U.S. Districts to Teach Computer Science
President Barack Obama with Adrianna Mitchell during an "Hour of Code" event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Monday.
Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo
The U.S.'s seven largest school districts, which include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston, and Fort Lauderdale, are joining more than 50 other school districts to start offering introductory computer science to all of their students. In addition, the College Board, which runs the Advanced Placement (AP) program, is introducing a new course called AP Computer Science Principles that will launch in the fall of 2016.
President Barack Obama has long wanted to make the U.S. more competitive with other countries in computing, science, and math education, but his efforts have been limited by Congress, which has not acted upon most of the president's proposals on education. In an effort to bypass Congress, Obama has sought to use his convening power to get communities and companies to help.
The new AP course will focus on encouraging women and minorities to start training for careers in computers.
In order to meet the teaching demand, charitable groups are pledging $20 million to train more teachers in computer science by the start of the 2015 school year. "While no one is born a computer scientist, becoming a computer scientist isn't as scary as it sounds," Obama says.
From Associated Press
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