by Stuart Singer

In the Washington Post article of December 21, 2009 “Fewer high school students taking computer science classes” the decline of Computer Science in public education was documented.  While it is not unusual for courses to disappear from the typical school schedule, the loss of this particular class should be of great concern.  It is important both as an essential twenty-first century curriculum for our public high schools and as a warning sign of a systemic problem.

The View from the Inside

Who better to explain the importance of Computer Science than someone who has been in the course within the past few years?  Here are some excerpts of a letter from just such an individual.

“Today, I was informed that my former high school is no longer offering Computer Science courses to students because of low enrollment… I graduated four short years ago.  I earned the full IB Diploma with four higher-level IB classes.

I had two majors in my Undergraduate degree: Biology and Computer Science. After graduating college in 2009, I was virtually unaffected by the recession and had employers fighting to hire me, which is quite unusual for graduates holding only a Bachelors degree with an average GPA.

Computer Science is the future.  The IT industry is a great place for young people to get a good solid start at life.  Computer science graduates earn 13 percent more than the average college graduate, according to U.S. Department of Labor.  Computer jobs are ranked among the highest in job satisfaction.  A degree in Computing can make it much easier to find a job for a recent graduate.  The field is projected to increase by 24 percent in the next 10 years (average growth of employment in a field is 7-13 percent).  It’s a field at the forefront of technology, a career that is always evolving leaving new opportunities in its wake.  The diversity of jobs computer knowledge prepares a person for is staggering.  Even if CS majors decide to take a job in a different field, their computer backgrounds can be extremely useful in a working environment.

Beyond being a doorway to a good career, the subject itself is invaluable to young minds.  It’s a practical application of problem solving skills, which is why Computer Science degrees run alongside Mathematics degrees at many institutions.  But unlike the derivatives of Calculus, which might seem a waste of time to a seventeen year old, Computer Science is logic at work.  It’s a real-world application of mind-bending exercises.

Even if there are only 10 kids who sign up for the subject each year, make it available to them.  Let them try it out; let them expand their minds that much more.  I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t want to take the class.  My mother told me to take it because it was available, and after the first class I was hooked.  Look where it led me.  Frankly, I don’t think the course should just be offered, but it should be a requirement of a high school diploma; just as a sound knowledge of computers is required in any job…. Don’t turn these students away.  Don’t make it more difficult for them to find their direction.  At the end of the day, educating the next generation and preparing them for the world we made is of the utmost importance.  Let’s not lose sight of that.  The world on the horizon is one run by computers, with the Computer Science majors at the helm.  Help your students, help our kids, and find success.”

Not a Singular Opinion

Allow me one more anecdote.  For more than a decade my son has been a highly successful computer engineer at an international computer programming company.  When I asked him whether CS was critical to a high school his response was immediate:  “If it was not for CS in high school I would not be where I am today.  My degree in college was in chemistry but the background I had from my high school and college courses in computer science was what got me my job.”  He went on to tell me that in the rare cases where his company hires someone without a strong CS background, a college professor from a nearby university is brought in to give the new employee a private “CS tutoring session”.  These young people are far from alone in their beliefs.

So What Is the Problem?

I asked a former CS teacher why these classes were disappearing.  Her answer was two- fold.  “CS has never been sold for what it really is—a solid course for future vocations.  And now in the current environment of budget cuts, when a class does not have a certain number of students, it is cut from the master schedule. My last cancelled CS had 18 students registered.”  While many AP and IB courses will remain on the schedule with low enrollments the case for giving computer science similar status has never been adequately articulated.  Nor has it been sufficiently promoted to the students. The lack of effective salesmanship is obvious.   Tragically, effective advocacy for computer science need not be time consuming or expensive.  For example, the MIT School of Engineering periodically sends out a team of young women to speak to selected groups of students concerning a possible career in engineering (http://mitpsc.mit.edu/outreach/landing.php?id=102). I watched one of these presentations and was stunned by the enthusiasm it evoked from its audience.  After dismissing the notion that engineering was only about concrete and steel, the power point flashed a picture of a bright red, stiletto-heeled shoe.  The woman at the microphone then asked, “Who do you think designed this?  Her answer, an engineer?”  The positive and enthusiastic response from the all-female audience was palpable.   Similar approaches need to be taken to ensure that the study of computer science is given the importance it deserves.

The Canary in the Coal Mine

I have never taught or studied computer science.  Am I showing my age?  My concern for its decline is that it is symptomatic of a larger problem within our educational system.  Here is how it works. 

- The Bait.  One of the rites of spring has become the public bargaining session between the various school systems and the community.  Each year the schools announce that due to budget issues some popular programs that are near and dear to the hearts of the people will have to be cut.  The usual suspects in this annual dance are athletics, the arts, and field trips.  After the predictable pushback by some of the most vocal and powerful parent groups in the high school, some funds are restored, threatened actions are rescinded and the process moves on. 

- The Switch.  But there is a second act that is not so public.  Monies are still in short supply and some items still need to be sacrificed.  Consequently, when a class like Computer Science falls a little short in enrollment it disappears for a year.  After this absence is repeated a few times it becomes a vague memory and eventually it becomes extinct.  My concern is that this same scenario holds true for too many other important but smaller classes as well.   One is sliced here, another removed there and soon the quality of the educational system has died from a thousand small curriculum cuts.

A Better Way to Go

If real budget cuts are necessitated by dwindling funds then perhaps the annual threats should become the reality.  The simple truth is that certain courses are more important in meeting the goal of a forward-thinking educational system that truly wants to produce productive citizens that are prepared for the future in a global, technology-based society.   Unlike using technology, knowledge of how technology works will enable our young people to innovate and take part in creating new ways of computing.   This knowledge is not going to be picked up on the proverbial streets.  We need to take a serious step back and redefine what we want and need from public education and then reprioritize our spending.

We need to heed the sage words expressed earlier in this piece by two young people.  Computer Science must be a consistent, standard course offering in all schools.  Enrollment should be encouraged at every level of the system—teachers, counselors, administrators and system-wide.  This approach should then become a model for other courses of similar worth.