Source: EdSource
Legislation that would ensure all high school students have access to computer science courses was introduced last week by Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park.
“From Silicon Valley to Biotech Beach, California is the undisputed cradle of innovation. People move here from all across the globe with bold ideas and big dreams of changing the world,” Berman said. “But the reality is that far too many California students grow up in the shadows of these tech companies, yet go to schools that don’t even offer them the opportunity to learn the skills they need to one day work there.”
A quarter of California students do not have access to computer science instruction, according to a press release from the assemblyman’s office. Students who attend schools with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students and Black, Latinx and Native American students are less likely to have computer science classes than other students in the state.
Twenty-seven other states require schools to offer computer science instruction, according to the release.
Ensuring all California students have access to computer science instruction would help close the gender and diversity gap in tech fields, and help train the future workforce needed for the state to remain competitive with other states and countries, Berman said.
“AB 1054 will begin to restore California as a leader, and will equip our students with the skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s digitally driven world,” Berman said.