There are no computer science teachers in New York (officially)

There are no computer science teachers in New York. It’s a point emphasized by Ben Esner at our recent Diversity In/Tech event.

A Bay Ridge educator who has been teaching intro computer programming and robotics after going through a summer training program, enabled by the Software Engineering Pilot program, is a stand out example of what could be, according to Crain’s.

Education officials are aware that they need to catch up, but are doing so cautiously. Crain’s discussed the issue with Josh Thomases, deputy chief academic officer at the New York City Department of Education:

Mr. Thomases insisted that the city had to see which programs worked before they were rolled out systemwide, and that the Department of Education needed to stay close to the computer engineering industry to keep coursework current.

“There is no one silver bullet,” Mr. Thomases said. “There will continue to be a multi-tiered strategy.”

Others agreed that there were virtues in moving slowly. “We have to make sure that teachers that are currently teaching computer science don’t suddenly become ineligible to do so,” said CSNYC’s Mr. Korth, who is a computer science professor at New York University.Scratch to the entire sixth-grade class at PS/IS 30 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

[Crain’s]