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Google, Facebook, Microsoft Deliver K-12 CS Demands To Congress (politico.com)
theodp writes: Politico reports that just one day after Facebook launched TechPrep, a highly-publicized initiative to attract more minorities and women to coding, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Code.org quietly sent a letter to top education lawmakers in the House and Senate insisting that computer science "must" be added to the list of "core academic subjects" and states be given resources to improve STEM education programs. "Computer science is marginalized throughout K-12 education," reads the letter. "We need to improve access for all students, particularly groups who have traditionally been underrepresented." Echoing the last point at this month's Grace Hopper Women in Computer Celebration, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki called for mandatory computer science in schools, suggesting that boys — like her own son — are monopolizing the family computer across America, leaving girls — like her own daughter — out of the conversation when it comes to technology (video @38:33). The new round of hand-wringing comes as tech companies face the deadline for filing their 2015 EEO-1 surveys and seek more tech-friendly U.S. visa and OPT STEM policies, so it's probably worth remembering that Microsoft proposed tech could turn workforce diversity lemons into H-1B visa lemonade by connecting tech immigration to K-12 CS education.
Precisely. If they're going to "demand" this, they need to stop extorting tax breaks out of the cities and states where they consider building new facilities, so the school systems will actually be able to afford to provide a decent education.
Critical thinking when listening to politicians / Reading the news
How the legal system actually works and what a citizen needs to know about it.
Contracts and you.
Basic rights of citizens and how not to be taken advantage of.
What you need to know to start a business.
Now arguably these would benefit everyone and not so much Google and Microsoft.
Where are our famously underfunded schools going to get the money ...
American schools are NOT underfunded. They receive more funding than almost any other country in the world. Only Norway and Switzerland spend more per student on education. Many of the countries spending a small fraction of what America spends, get far better results.
However, America's education spending is mostly based on local property taxes, which results in very unequal funding. But it is not clear if more spending will help much. New Jersey's "Save Our Schools" program poured millions into poorly performing schools, and resulted in negligible improvement. After Freddie Gray was killed in Baltimore's Sandtown slum, people pointed at the terrible schools as a source of the social decay. Yet Sandtown has some of the best funded schools in the country. The Feds have poured in millions spread over two decades. Yet, on a typical day, only half the kids show up for class. Whatever the problem is, it isn't just money.