Gov. Charlie Baker will play host later this week to a handful of his colleagues as a bipartisan group of governors huddle in Boston to talk about strategies to bolster K-12 computer science education.
Thursday’s event at the Hotel Commonwealth is the latest roundtable in Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s initiative as chairman of the National Governors Association and will feature Hutchinson, Baker, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy — the group’s vice chairman — Delaware Gov. John Carney, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott.
Baker serves as a member of the NGA Executive Committee.
A morning session is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. and will feature panel discussions on computing careers with representatives from Amazon and Google and on student programs with teachers from Girls Who Code, the NGA said. The organization said the chair’s initiative aims to “boost U.S. economic growth, competitiveness and security through state-based computer science education policies.”
After the morning session, Hutchinson and other governors will hold a press conference, organizers said.
A Pioneer Institute study released in May 2020 found that 85% of public high schools and 44% of elementary schools in Massachusetts offered computer science classes, and that less than a third of course offerings were aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Digital Literacy and Computer Science.
The report said that state lawmakers “need to recognize that the quality and quantity of computer science courses throughout K–12 will increase if they earmark training funds for teachers in state budgets.”