Washington,
D.C.
— TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation
economy CEOs and senior executives, today welcomed President Trump’s signing
of a memorandum instructing the U.S. Department of Education to invest at least
$200 million annually in computer science and STEM education programs. The following statement is attributable to
TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore:

“We welcome the White House’s
announcement dedicating at least $200 million annually to promote computer
science and STEM education, and hope this is the beginning of a sustained
effort to ensure that every child in America has a chance to develop basic STEM
and coding skills. These in-demand
skills are in short supply and leaving too many of our young people unprepared
to secure the more than 500,000 well-paying computing jobs currently unfilled
in the U.S.

Only one out of
four K-12 schools teach any computer science
,
even though nine out of ten parents say they want it taught in their children’s
schools. The federal government has a
duty to provide a safety net for the 75 percent of American students who are
falling through the cracks because they lack access to computer science and
STEM education. We applaud the White
House for recognizing this critical need and for stepping in to fill the gap
and give our young people a chance to succeed.”

TechNet is a member of the Computer Science Education
Coalition
, which advocates for Congress to
provide $250 million in federal funding for K-12 computer science education
annually.