Computer Science Education Act of 2010

School boards all over the country decided long ago that biology, chemistry, and  physics are vital components of a basic scientific education. I took all 3 in high school but didn’t have the chance to study computer science until college. I have long believed that computer science is just as essential a science and needs to be taken just as seriously. Luckily, Rep. Jared Polis thinks so, too. He recently introduced HR 5929, the Computer Science Education Act, intended to assess and improve computer science K–12 education.

Among other important changes, HR 5929 will help to establish computer science courses as an integral part of a high-school curriculum. Currently, only Texas and Georgia allow computer science to count towards math and science graduation requirements. Elsewhere, computer science—if it’s offered at all—is an elective only.

Low participation in high school, whether by choice or by circumstance, engenders low participation in higher education. Polis’s bill focuses particularly on underrepresented groups in computer science, especially when it comes to Advanced Placement testing. In 2008, 17% of AP computer science test takers were women and 4% of AP computer science test takers were African-Americans. These numbers are far below the representation of women and African-Americans in most AP tests.

When I walked into my first freshman computer science class, it was 1998 and only a few of my classmates had done any programming or otherwise delved into the underpinnings of computing. I felt a little behind, but I was certainly not alone. Now, with computers as ubiquitous as they are, would a student who didn’t study computer science (AP or otherwise) in high school even take the class in college? With only 17.7% of computer science bachelor’s degrees going to women, and 10.3% going to African-Americans, both numbers down from previous years, I think the answer is no.

Offering computer science courses—and accepting them as science requirements—doesn’t mean that every student will become a computer scientist. High school biology, for example, didn’t spark a love of life science in me. I have long since repressed all my memories that involved frog dissection, and so, I suspect, have many of my classmates. But the girl who shared the scalpel with me? She’s a doctor now. Offering science gives students the opportunity to love it.

I’m going to call my congresswoman this week and express my support for HR 5929. What do you think of it?

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