Strengthening computer science education across states for all students.

The Governors’ Partnership for K-12 Computer Science is a group of bipartisan state leaders committed to advancing policy and funding to expand access to, and increase equity in, K-12 computer science (CS) education.

Computing is now a fundamental part of daily life, commerce, and just about every occupation in today’s economy. According to the Conference Board, there are currently more than 500,000 open computing jobs across the country. To meet the demands of the workforce and prepare our children for the jobs of the future, it is essential that students be exposed to the field of computer science in our K-12 education system.

We believe that every student who wants to take computer science during their K-12 years should have the opportunity to do so, regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background.

But today, just half of all high schools offer high-quality computer science courses. In addition, only 30% of students taking AP computer science courses are female, and even fewer are students from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

As part of the Partnership, Governors commit to working toward the following priority computer science policies that will help meet the goal of increasing access to K-12 CS education:

Strengthening computer science education across states for all students.

Enable all high schools to offer at least one rigorous computer science course.

Fund professional learning opportunities so teachers can be prepared to teach these courses.

Create a set of high-quality academic K-12 computer science standards to guide local implementation of courses.