A teenager wakes up, gets ready for school. Slips a smartphone into her pocket on the way out the door.
Her day may well include some biology or chemistry, history, algebra, English and Spanish. It likely won?t include lessons on how that smartphone ? more powerful than the computers aboard the Apollo moon missions ? and its myriad colorful apps actually work.
That worries some Kansas businesses, lawmakers and educators who see a disconnect between what students learn and the technologies that have transformed everything from tractors in wheatfields to checkout lines at grocery stores.
But barriers to change abound. Computer wizzes earn more money programming in C++ than teaching it to teens. And cramming computer science into more students? schedules could cut into time spent learning about evolution, trigonometry or the laws of physics.
?We?re no longer at a time where we can just continue what we?re doing,? said Rep. Steve Huebert, an engineer who chairs the education committee in the Kansas House.
Huebert recalls learning chemistry, physics and biology in school. But in the working world, computers proved a critical tool for his job ? one that he had to learn on the go and that only grew in importance.
If some students think computer science may better fit their career goals, he wonders, why not let them swap a traditional science class for a chance to learn skills such as programming?
?If we can do that,? he says, ?it?ll be a win-win for everyone going forward.?
Talent-hungry companies
Code.org, a tech-company-fueled advocacy group, says most American high schools not only don?t make students take computer science ? many don?t even offer it.
The group?s attempts at tracking computer science education nationwide suggest such classes remain particularly rare in Kansas.
Meanwhile, businesses hunger for tech talent. Computer science, they argue, lifts students and economies alike in a world where even the smallest of startups need websites, apps, databases and analytics.
?Think about the needs that that creates for large employers, small employers,? says Anna Hennes, a program manager at one of the region?s highest-profile tech firms, medical record software giant Cerner. ?And everybody?s ability to continue to grow and thrive.?
