Today, Montana's Republican candidates for governor and superintendent of public schools called for policy changes to grow computer science education in the state.
At a press conference at Kalispell's Depot Park, Greg Gianforte and Elsie Arntzen proposed three changes. One: that computer science classes should count toward graduation as a core science requirement. Two: to allow computer coding to count toward foreign language requirements. And the third:
"We need to do more to help our teachers get certification to teach computer science. Our universities don't have those options. I think we should add them." said Gianforte.
Gianforte said improving teacher training in computer science can be done affordably. The Bozeman software entrepreneur said Montana has a "moral obligation" to improve computer science education here, and that local school boards should be allowed to opt out of the policies if they don't like them.