All Delaware public schools – including charters – may soon be forced to offer at least one computer science course in the near future.
The bill, which is expected to be filed in January, would make all 19 school districts and each charter develop a computer science class by the fall of 2020.
By the 2018-2019 school year, these schools would also have to allow students to substitute a computer science credit for a required math credit.
“So many things, jobs, now require computer skills and without kids being introduced to those in schools they have less of a likelihood of going into those fields," said Rep. Debra Heffernan (D-Bellefonte), the bill's chief sponsor.
Heffernan says even if a kid doesn’t take a job in the computer science field, the skills they learn can help them in many other careers.
“It gives kids a great opportunity to learn, to build on finding out what they want to do with their future.”
Under the bill, state education officials would need to draw up curriculum standards for the subject by the end of next December.
A similar proposal cleared the state House nearly unanimously earlier this year, but state senators didn’t take it up.
If it passes, school districts and charters would have until the fall of 2020 to have at least one computer science class up and running.
So far, seven states have implemented computer science standards for K-12 students, while a computer science class can count toward math or science graduation requirements in 32 states plus Washington, D.C.