The demand for computer programmers exceeds the supply available to businesses
in Washington that want to hire them. That's an opportunity that high-school
students should take advantage of as they think about their future
careers. But at the same time, they need to make sure they complete all the
courses required for a high-school diploma.
Thanks to a bill by Rep. Drew
Hansen
that's nearing final legislative approval, it
could soon be easier for high-schoolers to satisfy both those goals.
House Bill 1472 calls for school boards to
approve an advanced placement (AP) computer-science course as equivalent to a
math or science course that counts toward meeting graduation requirements. Other
states that do that, instead of treating the computer course as simply an
elective, have seen more students enroll in computer science.
