[Edu-sig] Significant drop in CS interest in high schools

[Jeff Rush]

Lloyd Hugh Allen wrote:
> I'm a math teacher who uses python for personal purposes, but the cs
> teacher in my building told me that the higher level cs ab ap was axed
> for this year - that could contribute to lower enrollment. Apparently
> ap italian was also on the chopping block until the gov't of italy
> ponied up....if only there were a wealthy benefactor for cs...

Now I'm really confused. ;-)  So you're talking about the CS 'courses'
no the AP tests, right?  I know the AP -tests- are offered only when it
makes business sense for the testing company but -courses- are under the
control of the local schoolboard, I thought.

So you're saying the schoolboard decides what courses to offer based on
who gives them money, up to and including governments, foreign and
domestic, instead of what is (a) best for society/future interests of
the students based on knowledge of trends, or (b) student registration
demand/historical interest in certain topics?

I'd love to get into the head of some of these decision makers - what
wierd view do they have of CS?  They must imagine it being some luxury
topic, some elective nice to have like Italian for advanced students but
not something of basic literacy for all students.

There is a difference between "this is what every citizen should know
about computers/tech to understand the rapidly changing world around
them" and "vocational training to become a professional programmer".

-Jeff