Microsoft has announced its official support for a new education budget proposal from the Obama Administration. It's called Computer Science for All, and if it is approved it will offer schools in the U.S. $4 billion in additional funding for computer science education efforts.
Here's what the proposal consists of:
- $4 billion in funding for states and $100 million directly for school districts in his forthcoming Budget to expand K-12 CS by training teachers, expanding access to high-quality instructional materials, and building effective regional partnerships.
- $135 million in Computer Science funding to become available starting this year from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Corporation for National And Community Service (CNCS) Expanding access to prior NSF supported programs and professional learning communities through their CS10k Initiative that led to the creation of more inclusive and accessible CS curriculum including Exploring CS and Advanced Placement (AP) CS Principles among others.
- Involving even more governors, mayors, and education leaders to help boost CS following the leadership of states like Delaware, Hawaii, Washington, Arkansas, and more than 30 school districts that have already begun to expand CS opportunities.
- Engaging CEOs, philanthropists, creative media, technology, and education professionals to deepen their CS commitments.
Microsoft President Brad Smith noted in a statement that Microsoft has made its own efforts to support computer science education in the U.S. and that this proposal will help to address the current gaps in the tech industry when it comes to hiring more skilled IT workers:
We clearly need the tech sector to continue to do more. Microsoft is one of many companies in the tech sector that is committed to this effort. In addition to our business initiatives, those of us who are involved in philanthropy, including such groups as Code.org, will do more. But the private sector and philanthropy cannot fill this gap without public funding. And if we're going to accelerate progress as a nation, we need federal funding. That's why today's proposal is so important. It can provide the accelerant to help more states and school districts progress more quickly.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov, Microsoft
