Should NC high school students be required to take computer science? New bill says yes

The bill must pass other committees before going to the full House. If eventually signed into law, the legislation would require all of the state’s public school students to eventually take a computer science class, beginning no later than the 2026-27 school year. The bill would require middle schools to offer a computer science course and allow a student to count that course toward the graduation requirement.

The bill does not detail whether the state would hire new teachers to meet the requirement or if existing teachers would be retrained as computer science teachers. Students would be able to choose which science classes they want to take.

Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, sponsored House Bill 8. She said the bill is about doing what’s best for kids, amid the growing prevalence of technology requirements across new and old industries. Most people will need computer science skills in their careers, she said.

“If we don’t teach it to our children we are doing a disservice to them by not adding it,” said Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, who motioned to approve the bill.

Debate over the bill focused on logistical concerns.

Rep. Rosa U. Gill, D-Wake, proposed an amendment to Paré’s bill that would have dropped the six electives required of high school students down to five electives. It would have kept the number of required science courses at three and maintained the overall number of credits required at 22. High school students, if they take a full schedule and pass every course, are currently able to take more than 22 credits.

Jamey Falkenbury, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction director of governmental affairs, said reducing electives required wouldn’t effectively reduce the number of electives a school would have to offer.

He said Gill’s bill would essentially create an extra credit requirement. Adding a 23rd credit requirement would cost $100 million in new teachers and other costs, he said.

Rep. Julie von Haefan, D-Wake, said she liked the idea of Paré’s bill but voted for Gill’s amendment. There’s a better way to require computer science than by eliminating earth science, she said — a reference to an earlier version of the bill that would have effectively cut earth science as a requirement. The bill approved Tuesday would allow students to choose two of three science courses offered.

Earth and environmental science is important for students to learn because it emphasizes a broad application of scientific principles, von Haefen said. “Eliminating that science requirement is going to be a great detriment to our students,” she said.

The state has changed credit requirements for new classes before. Lawmakers created a financial literacy course a few years ago that required the state to drop a history class requirement.

State leaders considered whether to delete a science or math requirement for computer science, but the decision was influenced by the University of North Carolina System. There, eliminating a math requirement for high school students was a nonstarter, said Michael Maher, a deputy state superintendent and a member of the UNC System committee that weighs minimum entry requirements.

Rep. Ashton Wheeler, D-Guilford, noted the system still requires three science credits.

Maher said he wasn’t concerned about that, because students who plan to go to college and study science would have flexibility in their high school schedules to still take another science class.