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Chicago Mayor Calls For National Computer Coding Requirement In Schools (thehill.com)
theodp writes: On Thursday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called on the federal government to make computer coding classes a requirement of high-school graduation (video). Back in December 2013, Emanuel — who previously served as President Obama's chief of staff — joined then-Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett to announce a comprehensive K-12 computer science program for CPS students, including a partnership with then-nascent Code.org. "[Y]ou need this skill Make it a high-school graduation requirement," Emanuel said. "They need to know this stuff. In the way that I can get by kind of being OK by it, they can't.
Not to mention....the education system should NOT be in the hands of the Feds to dictate what the states teach.
What part of United States don't you understand? Someone has to set the educational standards for the entire country. We can't have 50 states marching to a different drummer, especially when we have a political culture that values ignorance over intelligence.
My Sr year in high school had a class for those of us not college bound. Instead of taking Calc/Trig in Sr year the alternative was Business Math. It was a combo of Typing, Computer Lab, Accounting and Home Economics. We had to keep a credit card, checking account and savings account in balance the first semester. Every Friday we got a randomized sheet with a pay check and weekly bills. We had to buy insurance, take out car loans and take out a Mortgage. One part of the midterm test was to fill out a 1040EZ with our "Household info" from our classwork. Second semester was the same only with a Business ledger and our own company.