CÁRDENAS CONTINUES SUPPORT FOR STEM EDUCATION
CÁRDENAS CONTINUES SUPPORT FOR STEM EDUCATION
(Washington, DC) -- Continuing a commitment to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the United States, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley) today introduced the Computer Science Career Education Act. The legislation is the House companion of a bill introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
The Computer Science Career Education (CSCE) Act will award grants to a consortium between state or local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations and employers with a documented need in the computer science sector. The grants are designed to encourage the development of computer science curriculum that will meet the market needs of employers and better integrate secondary and postsecondary education.
“As an engineer, I see evidence everywhere of how much this country needs students trained in programming and computer science,” said Cárdenas. “As Americans, we expect to lead the way in technology innovation. Right now, we are getting beaten soundly by other nations. Only by investing in education that truly prepares our kids for the jobs of tomorrow can we regain our innovation edge.”
Under the CSCE Act, groups can apply for funds to develop and operate a 4- or 6-year computer science career education training program.
Previously, Cárdenas introduced a pair of STEM education-related bills: The 416d65726963612043616e20436f646520 Act, which would designate computer programming languages as “critical foreign languages” and provide incentives for state and local schools to teach more computer science beginning as early as Kindergarten, as well as the Computer Science in STEM Act, which would prepare children for the computing jobs of today and tomorrow by adding Computer Science as one of the core STEM classes.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2020 1 in every 2 STEM jobs will be in computing and there will be 1.4 million jobs in computer science with only 400,000 students enrolled in a computer science degree program. Despite these employment opportunities, most states do not offer computer science courses as part of their core curriculum in math and science.