Education World recently reported about President Barack Obama’s push to get computer science in every classroom by 2017. The president asked Congress for a whopping $4 billion for the new initiative to ensure that all students are on a leveled playing field in the future.

"We support the investment. In fact, we have a district goal titled CS2020, where every student will have computer science education by 2020. This school year, 2015-16, we began teaching 'coding' to all kindergartners,” said Michael Lawrence, a Seminole County Public School spokesperson, according to the Orlando Business Journal.

“Several of our schools participate in coding and computer science courses throughout elementary, middle and high school." 

The plan is all about the future. There isn’t a better time to concentrate on the future than the present because simply put, jobs in the STEM field are opening up in exponential numbers. However these jobs require technical skills that take years to learn. The learning process can be expedited if the students have the building blocks they need in each stage of their education making years K-12 crucial.

"Providing access to computer science is a critical step for ensuring that our nation remains competitive in the global economy and strengthens its cyber security,” said the White House in a press release.

“Last year, there were over 600,000 tech jobs open across the U.S., and by 2018, 51 percent of all STEM jobs are projected to be in computer science-related fields. The federal government alone needs an additional 10,000 information technology and cyber security professionals, and the private sector needs many more."

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Article by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor