Dive Brief:

• TechCrunch reports on 1.8 million U.S. jobs that are expected to be unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates, saying that American students need more computer science education. 
• According to author Linda Moore, the new $4 billion Obama administration initiative doesn't go far enough, and a "national plan" is also needed. 
• Moore believes that all secondary schools should be mandated to offer computer science classes, which she says should also be able to count towards science or math high school graduation requirements.

Dive Insight:

The sentiments of Moore, who is the president and CEO bipartisan policy and political network TechNet, are in line with the new program unveiled by the federal government. Her ideas for how to make U.S. students more competative aren't anything new to school officials and education experts who are used to grappling with the issue. The larger problem, however, is funding.

For the majority of schools, cost is the number one barrier to adopting and rolling out new tech. A lack of standardized protocol for evaluating new ed-tech options and a lack of available professional training for teachers is also a hurdle. Purchasing is also complicated by budgetary timelines; by the time decisions are finally made, it's common for budget cycles to have moved into future quarters or years.

Until all U.S. schools have access to sufficient and affordable internet speeds, thinking about expanding computer science classes to every school will remain a fantasy.​ Twenty five percent of respondents to the Consortium for School Networking's (CoSN) third annual "E-rate and Infrastructure" report said that "none of their schools currently meets the FCC's short-term goal" for connectivity.