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2014 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 210
Commending CodeVA.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 31, 2014
Agreed to by the Senate, February 6, 2014

 

WHEREAS, CodeVA, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond, has achieved great success in promoting access to computer science and computer programming education for students throughout the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth stands among the world’s leaders in high-tech industries such as aerospace development, computer and information technology, Internet support, software development, and banking; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth is equally committed to preparing a new generation of workers for these jobs by providing a high-quality public education and promoting the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculums; and

WHEREAS, up to 70 percent of STEM-field jobs are, in fact, computer programming jobs, and the majority of the remaining 30 percent of STEM-field jobs require a robust understanding of computer programming concepts; and

WHEREAS, a strong foundation in computer science and computer programming concepts will be central to success in many jobs in the future, even those not necessarily considered STEM fields, such as communications or automobile maintenance; and

WHEREAS, only one in 10 of Virginia’s public high schools currently offers classes in computer programming or computer science; in many cases, those classes remain available only to students who choose to take computer programming or computer science as electives; and

WHEREAS, by 2020, the United States Department of Labor and Statistics estimates there will be 1.4 million computer science jobs in the United States, but only about 400,000 trained and qualified workers available to fill those jobs; there are approximately 30,000 computer science jobs currently unfilled in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, CodeVA is a leader in the computer science education field, promoting common-sense policies, training new computer programming teachers, and preparing parents and children for a future in which understanding computer programming and computer science concepts will lead to many prosperous opportunities; and

WHEREAS, among its many other accomplishments, CodeVA proudly helped launch the Hour of Code initiative in the Commonwealth in 2013; Hour of Code is a national program promoting the idea that students will benefit from the critical thinking skills developed by learning even the basics of computer programming; and

WHEREAS, CodeVA strives to ensure that every child in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to benefit from an education that includes computer programming and computer science; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend CodeVA, an outstanding nonprofit organization, for working to build a strong future for the Commonwealth; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to CodeVA as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for the organization’s efforts to modernize public school offerings in computer science and computer programming.