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White House Wants to Train K-12 Students to Be Nation's Future Cyber Defense


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A computer science classroom.

A $4-billion White House effort encouraging K-12 schools to offer computer science courses is part of a longer-term effort to fill a shortage of cyber experts in the federal government.

Credit: Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock.com

A $4-billion White House effort encouraging K-12 schools to offer computer science courses is part of a longer-term effort to fill the shortage of cyber experts in the federal government, according to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy adviser Kumar Garg.

Garg says a large part of the cost share, which provides $4 billion for states, $100 million for districts, and outlines a $135-million investment from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Corporation for National and Community Service to encourage computer science education, goes toward training teachers instead of purchasing equipment.

The $4-billion proposal would be implemented over three years.

Meanwhile, NSF will be investing $120 million over five years through its existing funding streams in support of K-12 computer science education. Some jurisdictions are training teachers to incorporate computer science in their existing courses, while others are experimenting with having full computer science education credentials.

"We highlighted the fact that there's a cybersecurity worker shortage in the government and long-term investments like Computer Science for All can complement that," Garg says.

The Computer Science for All initiative complements the TechHire initiative, as more communities start to see both as a way to give their community members access to the information technology sector.

From NextGov.com
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Abstracts Copyright © 2016 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


 

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