Mayor's Office: All City Schools Will Be Required To Offer Computer Science
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce this week that computer science will be offered in New York City schools in the years to come.
The Mayor's office confirmed to CBS2 that through a public-private partnership, the Department of Education will offer computer science classes to all students within the next 10 years.
"Too many students are learning to type when they should be learning to code," Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. "This public-private partnership is going to open so many doors for students, beginning in their earliest grades. It's going to ensure that New York City public schools are producing the tech talent employers are demanding."
Currently, fewer than 10 percent of city schools offer computer science education of any kind, and only 1 percent of students receive such education, according to a New York Times report.
The new rules will not make computer science a graduation requirement, and middle schools and high schools may only offer it as an elective, the newspaper reported.
The mayor was set to make an announcement about the new computer science program on Wednesday.
