From: The Honorable Tony Cardenas
Sent By: anna.hevia@mail.house.gov
Date: 4/3/2015

Dear Colleague,
We invite you to join us as a cosponsor of the Computer Science in STEM Act of 2015
This bill will help equip our children with the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century workforce by strengthening computer science education for students from kindergarten through grade twelve. The bill would provide a framework within which state educational agencies and computer science teachers have the resources they need to improve computer science education for their students.
In an increasingly technology-based world, businesses and other organizations continue to invest in, and rely heavily upon, information technology (IT) to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and safeguard information. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the high tech industry will be among the fastest growing industries in the coming years. This growth will further outpace our already insufficient pool of college graduates with computing-related degrees if we fail to attract more young people to this field.
By strengthening computer science education for students at the primary and secondary educational levels, this bill will encourage our youth to pursue careers in computing, or equip them to be successful in any field that requires computer skills. Specifically, this bill would: (1) amend the definition of STEM in the America Competes Act of 2010 to include computer science, (2) provide competitive grants for states to develop and implement comprehensive plans to improve their computer science education programs for k-12 students, (3) ensure that teachers have improved training and the appropriate skills and resources to teach k-12 computer science courses, and (4) provide for an independent and comprehensive evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the activities funded by the grants.
This legislation is an important step towards expanding access to computer science education and ensuring that the next generation is ready to meet the demands of the 21st century job market. If you would like to cosponsor this bill, or have any questions, please contact Steve Botsford at Stephen.Botsford@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Tony Cárdenas
Member of Congress