Slashdot Mirror
ACM Urges Obama To Include CS In K-12 Core
jmcbain writes "The ACM issued a set of recommendations supporting Barack Obama's stated goal of making science and mathematics education a national priority at the K-12 level. The ACM is urging the new administration to include Computer Science as an integral part of the nation's education system. 'The new Administration can play an important role in strengthening middle school education, where action can really make a difference, to introduce these students to computer science,' said ACM CEO John White." Is CS such a basic subject, at the level of science or math, that it makes sense to (try to) teach its principles to every elementary school child?
You do realize that many of our states are the size of and have the population of most other countries?
It does not mean that those states can dedicate comparable amount of resources to develop their educational systems. At least experience shows that they never do.
You do realize how terrible the Federal government is here?
Yes, however States are even worse.
I'm guessing no, since you don't understand our system of federalism or that we're a constitutional republic or how our Constitution (with amendments) prevents states from reinstating slavery while still severely limiting the Feds' powers.
Your system of federalism works to create an impression that stupid rednecks from the South will eventually get their ancestors' slaves back.
The rest is fluff.
Nope, you're a Russian in California. You have no idea how our (currently very broken) system of federal government is supposed to work, or how to get it back to a working state.
Last time it worked, you had a Civil War.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
You really don't know how things work in the US, do you? Your arguments read like you never made it beyond a 5th grade civics class or something.
Actually it's Americans who invent massive and convoluted ways to "explain" how things are supposed to work in their government. The truth is, YES, IT IS AS STUPID AS IT LOOKS.
California gets to set it's own emission standards for cars, and they require annual testing, yes? Michigan does not. That's federalism in action.
No, that's corruption in action. Car emissions are a public health issue. The idea that what is healthy in Michigan is deadly in California is idiotic -- if US wasn't hopelessly broken, EPA on behalf of the people of the whole country would comission a scientific study, and use its results to enforce the same standard everywhere, just like FDA does with food. But since it's possible to pretend that this is somehow "local" issue, Michigan makes it easier for local industry to poison people while California pretends to care about public health so people don't bother local politicians about their other wrongdoings. Neither actually wants to find out if their actions are justified.
I've got a permit to carry a pistol in Michigan. California does not honor this permit, so I can't carry a gun around California. That's federalism in action.
No, that's greed in action. Every state wants to charge people multiple times for the same thing as long as they can get away with it.
California did, and will again once Prop 8 is rightfully struck down by the courts, honor homosexual marriages. Michigan does not. That's federalism in action.
No, that's dumb rednecks and political maneuvering in action. Discrimination of homosexuals is wrong everywhere, and there was absolutely no reason to propose a law about it except as a futile attempt to rally Social Conservatives to vote for McCain on the same day.
As a Californian that's obviously in favor of large governments and central planning I find it highly doubtful that you'd like to see that whole "states rights" issues simple fade from existence. Your world would change, and you'd suffer, for lack of a better term, to the whims of us cousin humping rednecks clinging to our guns and religion in fly-over country.
If not for "states rights", progressives would smother the "fly-over country" by obtaining wider-reaching political power. "States rights" are the reason why Social Conservatives have safe refuge in various "red" states' institutions, no matter how much their policies fail on the national scale.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
You sound like you haven't been in school for awhile, so let me remind you of something: HIGH SCHOOLERS ARE IDIOTS. I know, I was there 3 years ago. As to the "innate ability" argument, I convinced 3 of my friends (all took AP calc, one is a math major at W&M) to take AP Comp Sci with me, and none of them did well. They just didn't "get it". The asian kid who is now majoring in math did the worst. It really seems that you don't have the slightest clue of what you're talking about. NOT everyone can learn CS if they want to.
Your response demonstrates the need for instruction from an early age.
The problem, as mentioned above, is that the teachers aren't going to know enough to teach the material.
I'm old enough to remember adults complaining about the new math.
"Press to test."
(click)
"Release to detonate."