Computer Science Education (CSEd) Week, which wrapped up last Friday, is an important reminder that accessible, inclusive K-12 STEM education is crucial to preparing young Americans for the jobs of the future and to equipping our workforce with the skills necessary to thrive in the digital economy. The private sector’s role in advancing these objectives is just as critical as government engagement and leadership across the local, state, and federal levels.
Teachers need resources and training to offer high-quality K-12 computer science education. Legislative proposals like the Teacher Education for Computer Science Act (Teach CS Act), introduced by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) last week, are crucial to advancing this mission and to strengthening K-12 STEM education across the United States. The Teach CS Act – the companion bill to the House legislation introduced by Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Reed (R-NY) – not only amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to include additional funding for computer science teacher training, but also authorizes a much-needed program to provide competitive grants for centers of excellence in teacher education programs.
As BSA’s workforce development policy agenda highlights, bolstering access to STEM education includes investing in K-12 curricula, fostering inclusion and diversity, and aligning curricula to real-world demands. The Teach CS Act aims to further these objectives and advance CSEd Week’s mission of raising awareness about the need to elevate computer science education at all levels, while underscoring the critical role of computing in all careers.
The private sector is working hard to advance K-12 computer science education and empower educators with the tools necessary to teach computer science at every level. Initiatives like CSEd Week, which has 350 global partners including BSA member companies, are key to this effort. CSEd Week’s Hour of Code has reached more than 800 billion students globally to date. With just eight US states providing access to K-12 computer science education for all students and only 45 percent of US high schools offering computer science courses, the CSEd Week campaign is a much-needed means of broadening access to this curriculum.
Our workforce must be prepared with the digital skills to drive growth and innovation across all sectors of the economy, as half of all coding jobs are outside the tech industry. There are nearly half a million open computing jobs in the United States alone, while globally there is expected to be a 1.8 million cybersecurity workforce gap by 2022. This shortage will require a long-term workforce development strategy that better prepares students for the jobs of the future, helps workers transition to new jobs, and allows companies to recruit the best and brightest workers to fill high-demand jobs.
There is immense opportunity across all sectors for those wishing to pursue meaningful jobs in STEM. The software industry supports 14.4 million US jobs and drives $1.6 trillion of total value-added GDP. To take advantage of these opportunities, students and workers must first be given the opportunity to access the relevant training. Public sector proposals like the Teach CS Act, coupled with private sector initiatives, are key to better prepare Americans for 21st-century jobs. BSA encourages the government and private sector to collaborate to improve access to STEM education and provide educators with the tools and resources necessary to effectively teach computer science at the K-12 level.
Learn more about BSA’s initiative on workforce development issues here.
