On Feb 15, PSCSTA testified at a public hearing in the House Committee on Education on SB 5849 Concerning a computer science competency graduation requirement.
The text of our OTHER testimony delivered by Chapter Advocacy Lead Lawrence Tanimoto was as follows:
The Puget Sound Computer Science Teachers Association and CS for All Washington are thrilled that this legislature is supporting CS education in Washington.
However, we are OTHER on this bill and believe that SB 5849 needs the following changes:
- The foundational computer science standards for graduation must be articulated ASAP.
- A credible plan for supporting teachers and school districts to help students meet this new requirement must be articulated.
- The credible plan must be backed by a realistic cost estimate and budget.
- Students' mastery of these foundational computer science standards at various grade levels must be assessed prior to implementation and thereafter
- The date of implementation must be delayed to at least the Class of 2030 to enable stakeholders needed time to deploy plan to all schools by 2026 when these students are freshmen.
We enthusiastically agree that computer science is foundational. We appreciate the efforts of this legislature to require computer science for high school graduation. But without changes noted above, the promise of SB 5849 will fall far short of its goals.
The PSCSTA Board approved this testimony based on feedback from an open membership meeting on Feb 12, and CS for All Washington soon co-signed onto this testimony.
Video on State House Education Committee is at https://tvw.org/video/house-education-2024021216/
Portions of this video pertinent to SB 5849 are from about 00:01:00 to 00:09:00 when bill is summarized and Sen Wellman testifies in support of bill. Public testimony is from 01:33:00 to 02:00:00. PSCSTA testimony is from 01:55:00 and lasts about 90 seconds.
