Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, gives a spectacular talk at last week’s Leadership Conference of the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce:
“Right now we are an average state when it comes to computer science in schools. And by average I mean pathetic. Because as a country, we’re actually quite pathetic. Only 5% of the high schools in the entire country currently offer the AP course in computer science. In Washington state we have 771 high schools and last year the number that offered the AP course in computer science was 35. There will be some state in this country that becomes the first state to get computer science into every high school, and I ask, “Why not Washington?” We are a leader in this field. We recognize, we understand, that it is a field that is foundational not just for creating software but franky for creating almost everything.”
It’s worth 30 minutes of your time to watch Brad’s remarks, here.