Mayor Bill de Blasio wants students as young as those in elementary school to have exposure to computer science concepts like robotics or block-based programming as piece of their public school education,with the goal of producing future talent for the technology sector.
On Wednesday, the mayor will offer details on a procedure to require that all New York City public schools offer computer science to students within at least 10 years. The city is planning to spend $81 million dollars to ensure that it happens, and half of which will come from private contributions."Too many students are learning to type when they should be learning to code," the mayor said in a statement. "This public-private partnership is going to open so many doors for students, beginning in their earliest grades. It's going to ensure that New York City public schools are producing the tech talent employers are demanding."Currently, or less than 10 percent of city schools offer computer science courses to students.
The city will focus instant efforts on training current teachers. It anticipates hiring approximately 5000 additional teachers in the next decade as well. In addition to spending $81 million on programming costs,like teacher training, the city will spend approximately $700 million in capital costs to purchase devices and update the infrastructure of school buildings.
Source: wnyc.org