Support Computer Science in Public Schools

This week, America’s top CEOs governors, and education leaders - including NMSI’s CEO Matthew Randazzo- have joined forces to ask Congress to support computer science in K-12 schools, lending their voices to stories in the Washington Post and Politico.

At a time when every industry in every state is impacted by advances in computer technology, three-quarters of U.S. schools do not offer meaningful computer science courses. Instead, what is increasingly a basic skill is only available to the lucky few, leaving most students behind, particularly students of color and girls.

Polls show that 90% of Americans want to see this problem solved. Schools should give all students the opportunity to understand how this technology works, to learn how to be creators, coders, and makers — not just let our students simply be consumers. 

Not only does computer science provide every student foundational knowledge, it also leads to the highest-paying, fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. economy. There are currently over 500,000 open computing jobs, in every sector, from manufacturing to banking, from agriculture to healthcare, but only 50,000 computer science graduates a year.

NMSI aims to be a part of the conversation and solution by promoting STEM education and breaking down barriers to access in education and prepares all students to graduate college and career ready. Join us in supporting the issue.

To learn more, read the Washington Post article about the need for Computer Science.