STEM education is a seeming priority in America, where proponents advocate this for technological competitiveness. And thus it is that schools give increasing emphasis to curricula in technology, engineering, mathematics and science … unless that science is computer science. This has languished for a variety of business reasons to which we can speak, but it comes down to top officials not having yet figured out what’s in it for them. That is especially true at University of Maryland, where CS Education programs languish for want of attention by administrators.
Follow the money? Maybe. Officials have a story line for how they can charge differential tuition for those on a technical track. Can they charge the same for those on an educator track? Maybe not, so if it isn’t profitable for folks in Main Admin, then it is neglected, and never mind the policy implications.
So the latest development is that President Obama signed into law the STEM Education Act of 2015, which officially recognizes computer science as a critical piece of the STEM education puzzle. Cool! Except … this doesn’t address the fundamental blockage to promotion of CS Ed, since money is not involved. And until Main Admin can profit by it, it ain’t gonna happen.