Superintendents across Public School Districts in Massachusetts are working together to expand, and in some cases introduce, computer science as a foundational skill for all students. Our efforts, through our state organization – The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) – do not mean we are attempting to limit creativity or forget other content, especially the arts. What we believe is that contributing citizens will require a general knowledge of computer science in order to be successful in 2018 and beyond. We also believe that we are in a 50 state competition to create the skilled workforce needed to fill unfilled jobs and to drive the state’s knowledge-based economy.
Massachusetts has already adopted Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards for districts to follow. Even our skilled tradespeople will be working alongside robots needing programming. Local investment in expanding computer science education will only strengthen the Massachusetts Economy, bolster local revenues, and, most importantly, help children have better futures as adults.
Superintendents are not alone in our efforts. Governor Baker with Secretary Peyser, the business community, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, MA Higher Education, and The MA Computer Attainment Network (MassCAN) are partnering with us. All together we hope to make Massachusetts Public Schools the leader in computer science education in addition to maintaining our first-in-the-nation ranking on existing academic measures.
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