With California having the highest number of open computing jobs in the country, legislation has been introduced to help close the hiring gap. Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman, of Menlo Park, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, have unveiled the bill. It would require that all public high schools in the state offer at least one computer science education course. Nevada Union High School Principal Kelly Rhoden says they already offer such a course for Advanced Placement students. But all students will have it available next year. And they all have chrome books…

click to listen to Kelly Rhoden

As of January of last year, California had over 45-thousand open computing jobs. But there were only nine-thousand-330 graduates in computer science in 2020. Meanwhile, Rhoden is less sure about another feature of the measure, which would establish computer science as a high school graduation requirement by the 2030-2031 school year…

click to listen to Kelly Rhoden

Supporters of the legislation say despite being the undisputed cradle of innovation, California has been failing to offer students from all backgrounds access to computer science courses. And California has fallen well behind 40 states, leaving an equity gap.