U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) wants to increase the nation’s computer-skilled workforce by establishing a new national high school competitive grant program under the recently unveiled bipartisan Coding Opportunities and Development for Equitable Students (CODES) Act.
S. 3122 would enable America’s high schools to establish or expand coding education programs via a new National Activities Fund grant program at the U.S. Department of Education.
“This legislation seeks to give students the tools they need, not only for their own future, but for the future of our economy,” said Sen. Cassidy, referring to the proposed competitive grants that local school districts could vie for to advance much-needed computer science and coding skills.
Sen. Cassidy and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced S. 3122 on June 25, with U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) signing on to cosponsor the measure, which has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
“Today’s students should be exposed to the computer skills of the 21st Century,” Sen. Cantwell said.
In her home state of Washington and around the country, Sen. Cantwell said the technology industry is thriving, with numerous jobs being created daily. “But our curriculum is not keeping up,” she said. “By ensuring high school students can access computer science and coding education, we can close the skills gap and boost our country’s competitive position globally.”
According to the draft text of the bill, that sentiment would be stipulated in S. 3122, which states: “(1) States should support high schools in recognizing coding and computer science classes as classes that count toward the fulfillment of graduation requirements; (2) it should be a priority to create a national strategy to incorporate computer science and coding into the elementary and secondary educational system in the United States; (3) learning to write and read code is critical to creating and innovating in cyberspace, and learning to write and read code is a skill critical to the national security and economic competitiveness of the United States; and (4) the modernization of the educational system in the United States is a priority, and modernization is necessary to bolster the next generation of high-tech workers.”
Toward those goals, grants under the bill would be made available to local educational agencies with programs that allow high school students to take a coding class in place of a mathematics, science, or foreign language class in order to fulfill a graduation requirement, according to a summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s office.
S. 3122 also would prioritize grant applications from rural or underserved areas; require all grant applications to report information and statistics about their program’s findings to the Education Department; and ensure each application includes a spending plan, goal descriptions, and a strategy toward becoming a self-sustaining program, according to the summary.