Lawmakers show interest in counting computer science as a math class credit

With a 21st century workforce that is increasingly relying on students to focus on courses that involve the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), is it really possible computer science is being left behind?

If you believe the statistics supplied by state and nationally-based computer science education advocacy organizations, it’s very true. They say it’s a problem that needs to be solved at the high school level.

Rep. Sarah Anderson

HF672, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth), would allow students to satisfy a math credit required for high school graduation by taking a computer science course that meets state math standards. The bill was laid over Tuesday by the House Education Innovation Policy Committee for possible omnibus bill inclusion. It has no Senate companion.

Nationwide, computer science among STEM courses represents just 2 percent of college course enrollment, despite the fact that 60 percent of STEM jobs are computer science related, according to Code.org, a nationally-based nonprofit that advocates for increased computer science learning in secondary education.

Minnesota is one of 25 states that does not allow students who enroll in computer science courses to count such a class as a required math credit toward graduation.

Jim Russell hopes to change that.

Russell, a constituent of Anderson’s who works in the computer science field, said HF672 would go a long way toward incentivizing more high school students to consider taking computer science-related courses.

“The promise of a high-paying job just isn’t enough to entice a student to enroll in computer science,” Russell said. “Their short-term goal is to graduate.”

By allowing students to count computer science as math class toward their graduation, schools would increase the number of students who are exposing themselves to the subject and possibility of a field when they enter college, Russell said.

Those sentiments are shared by John Dukich, manager of public policy and entrepreneurship at the Minnesota High Tech Association, who said the state is likely to have more than 80,000 computer science-related jobs by 2020.

“We feel that by allowing computer science courses to fulfill a math grad requirement, that will expose more students at an earlier age to computer science courses,” Dukich said. “That will get many of them on the path to acquiring the skills they need to enter the workforce in related fields.”

Computer science-related jobs pay salaries 75 percent higher than the median national average. Demand for qualified professionals in such specialties as software engineering continues to increase. Despite those facts, there are 10 percent fewer computer science majors in colleges across the country than in 2005, Russell said.

While committee members generally expressed support for the bill, some questioned whether all computer science courses offered at high schools would meet math standards required for graduation.

Anderson said the bill’s language states that such courses would only count as a math class if they met the state standards for math.

Officials from the Department of Education testified that while the department hasn’t officially endorsed the bill, they are supportive of the idea and willing to work with Anderson on language that reflects the department having oversight on that issue.