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Out of the three high schools I attended in the late 90s, there was only one computer related class available, in one school, and in one grade. It was an intro to programming with C++, and the teacher was simply writing information on a whiteboard word for word from an outdated book. She couldn't answer any questions because she had no idea how any of it worked. Having already become reasonably proficient with C++ many years prior, I essentially took over teaching the class after just a few lessons, even making my own (and better, I thought) lesson plan. Looking back on where the public understanding of computers was in the 90s, I can understand the lack of capable instructors. I actually feel privileged (now, anyway) that my class had a brief introduction to Logo back in 3rd grade, even if there wasn't another computer class until high school. But here we are 14 years after a student had to teach C++, and I see virtually zero computer classes available for my nephew in middle school. In fact, the only one available to him until high school is, and I kid you not, an Intro To Word Processing. Part of the problem is the laughable education system in the US, where actual education and life skills don't even make the top 10 on the list of priorities, and where schools (and more importantly teachers) are grossly underfunded. But the other part, I think, is that the pool of capable and willing instructors is still non-existent. When I talk to CS students or graduates, even ones with relevant minors, the idea of teaching as a career isn't even something they consider. And whether it's lack of incentive or just unwillingness, existing K-12 instructors don't seem to have any interest in becoming savvy enough to properly teach tech courses. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I fear it won't happen in any satisfying time frame. |
I'm pretty sure there are some other schools in the city that offer computer science class, but the city board mandates that students go to the school closest to them. There is a transfer process, but if I decide to transfer, I can not take IB (International Baccalaureate) even if the school I transfer to has IB. Pretty annoying.