Dive Brief:
- A shortage of qualified applicants pushed tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and Netflix to contact California Gov. Jerry Brown and offer to work with the state to increase computer science education for K-12 students.
- While 90% of California schools do not teach computer science, the letter says there are "roughly 16 jobs for every computer science graduate in the state!"
- How these tech leaders will work with the state to improve and increase computer science education is still unclear, but they ended the letter with a request to meet with the governor for further discussion.
Dive Insight:
One big point that the letter brings up is a discrepancy between computer science opportunities for students in low-income versus middle- and upper-income communities. The letter talks about a lack of access to computer science classes for students of color — specifically, it says that only 74 African Americans and 392 Hispanic Americans took the Advanced Placement Computer Science exam in 2013. This is later seen through a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley.
The plan to expand and increase computer science is still in its early stages, so it's still uncertain how it will unfold. Silicon Valley has actively become more involved in education spheres in recent years, so it will be interesting to see how this partnership unfolds. One thing to be cognizant of, however, is how many of the letter signers feel about public education. Microsoft and Netflix are among the backers of this letter, and both companies have leaders with pretty specific and contentious views of what education should look like.
