Every public high school in California would have to offer computer science classes as a graduation requirement under a proposed bill from Assembly member Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park.
The legislation, known as Assembly Bill 2097, will require all school districts and charter schools to offer a computer science class by the 2026-27 school year. Schools would also be required to make computer science a requirement by the 2030-31 school year.
The legislation, which Berman announced at a Feb. 6 press conference, is his second attempt in two years to create a computer science requirement. His last bill, AB 1054, fizzled in committee last fall. Unlike the current legislation, it did not include a graduation requirement.
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In introducing the new bill, Berman noted that 27 other states already require every high school to offer computer science. Five states — Arkansas, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina and Tennessee — require a computer science course for high school graduation, he said.
California, meanwhile, is behind 40 other states when it comes to the percentage of high schools that offer at least one computer science course, Berman said. About 45% of the state’s high schools offer computer science, he said.
“This is as unacceptable as it is indefensible,” Berman said. “And frankly, it’s embarrassing.”
The bill, he said, is critical for equipping students with the skills they need in the modern workforce and the “digitally driven world.” Too many California students, he said, are growing up in the shadows of tech companies that are creating world-changing technologies but are not given the skills they need to one day work there.
Even outside Silicon Valley, computers are an “integral part of our everyday life and are relied upon in every industry, in every corner of California,” Berman said.
Sen. Josh Becker, who joined Berman at the press conference, is the principal co-author of the bill, which is also being supported by Tony Thurmond, California’s state superintendent for public instruction.
Thurmond spoke in favor of ensuring that computer science is a requirement rather than an elective. This, he said, will help advance equity. Currently about 34% of schools serving high proportions of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Pacific Islander students offer computer science courses, compared to 52% of schools serving a greater proportion of white and Asian students, according to Berman.
“This computer science bill is intended to create a requirement because without a requirement what we see all the time is that schools that have access to resources and means will provide access to students,” Thurmond said. “It shouldn’t be that the access you live in dictate if you have access to this training.”
Berman acknowledged that it might be challenging for some high schools to start offering computer science but noted that there are many “role models” that these schools can follow, both in California and across the nation.
“No one is going into this blindly, thinking we can just flip a switch and immediately every high school in California can offer computer science,” Berman said. “But … we can’t afford not to. It’s not fair to our students, it’s not fair to their future.”
Gennady Sheyner covers local and regional politics, housing, transportation and other topics for the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Online and their sister publications. He has won awards for his coverage. More by Gennady Sheyner
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