II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 648 

To establish a grant program to promote the development of career education 

programs in computer science in secondary and postsecondary education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to promote the development 

of career education programs in computer science in 

secondary and postsecondary education. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Computer Science Ca5 reer Education Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi9 ble partnership’’ means a consortium between or 


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1 among at least 1 local educational agency, at least 

2 1 institution of higher education, and representatives 

3 of the community, including nonprofit organizations, 

4 local or regional employers (including State agen5 cies) with a documented workforce need in the com6 puter science sector, workforce investment boards or 

7 other entities providing employment services, re8 gional economic development organizations, industry 

9 associations, representatives of labor organizations, 

10 or central labor coalitions, where appropriate, and 

11 parents and students. 

12 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means— 

14 (A) an institution of higher education as 

15 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or 

17 (B) a postsecondary vocational institution 

18 as defined in section 102(c) of the Higher Edu19 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

20 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

21 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

22 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec23 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

24 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Education. 


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1 (5) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec4 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

7 to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants, 

8 on a competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to enable 

9 such partnerships to develop and operate a 4- or 6-year 

10 computer science career education program. 

11 (b) APPLICATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

13 that desires to receive a grant under this Act shall 

14 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

15 in such manner, and containing such information as 

16 the Secretary may require. 

17 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

18 under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 (A) describe the eligible partners and part20 nership, the roles and responsibilities of each 

21 partner, and a demonstration of each partner’s 

22 ability to support the proposed program; 

23 (B) describe how the eligible partnership 

24 will implement a computer science career edu25 cation program, as described in subsection (c); 


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1 (C) ensure funding under the grant pro2 gram is spent in a coordinated manner with 

3 other local resources; 

4 (D) describe the State or local workforce 

5 shortages, as determined by the relevant State 

6 agency in charge of workforce data, in the com7 puter science sector; 

8 (E) make information, including career 

9 guidance and advisement resources, available 

10 about the program; 

11 (F) ensure nonduplication of the partner12 ship’s development of computer science career 

13 education programs; 

14 (G) ensure equitable access to the pro15 gram; and 

16 (H) demonstrate alignment of the partner17 ship’s computer science career education pro18 gram to the State, regional, or local computer 

19 science sector. 

20 (c) CONTENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE CAREER EDU21 CATION PROGRAM.—An eligible partnership that receives 

22 a grant under this Act shall use the grant funds to develop 

23 and operate a 4- or 6-year computer science career edu24 cation program that— 


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1 (1) includes the development of a computer 

2 science program for both secondary education and 

3 postsecondary education that— 

4 (A) is aligned with rigorous computer 

5 science standards for kindergarten through 

6 grade 12 computer science education; 

7 (B) links secondary schools and institu8 tions of higher education through nonduplica9 tive sequences of courses in computer science 

10 career fields, including the investigation of op11 portunities for secondary students to earn post12 secondary credit while enrolled in secondary 

13 school, such as through credit transfer agree14 ments including dual enrollment; 

15 (C) uses, if appropriate and available, ex16 periential or work-based learning in collabora17 tion with local or regional employers; 

18 (D) uses educational technology and dis19 tance learning, as appropriate, to involve all of 

20 the partners in the eligible partnership more 

21 fully in the development and operation of the 

22 program; 

23 (E) aligns with the skill needs of industries 

24 in the State or region; and 


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1 (F) creates innovative opportunities for 

2 students that lead to student attainment of in3 dustry-recognized credentials; 

4 (2) includes professional development for teach5 ers that— 

6 (A) is designed to prepare teachers to 

7 teach the fundamental concepts of computer 

8 science using effective teaching methods for all 

9 students; 

10 (B) provides for joint training for teachers 

11 in the eligible partnership, including between 

12 secondary and postsecondary teachers and core 

13 academic teachers and career and technical 

14 education teachers at both the secondary level 

15 and postsecondary level; 

16 (C) is designed to ensure that teachers and 

17 administrators are aware of current career 

18 pathways and the needs and expectations of 

19 business and industry; 

20 (D) focuses on training postsecondary and 

21 secondary education faculty in the use of con22 textual and applied curricula and instruction; 

23 and 

24 (E) if needed, ensures secondary school 

25 teachers are qualified to teach postsecondary 


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1 courses in the secondary school according to ar2 ticulation agreements; 

3 (3) includes career and academic counseling for 

4 the students that— 

5 (A) provides information to students re6 garding available computer science career edu7 cation programs; 

8 (B) supports student progress in com9 pleting computer science career education pro10 grams; 

11 (C) provides labor market information on 

12 local, State, regional, and national computer 

13 science employment opportunities, such as occu14 pation demand, education requirements, and ex15 pected compensation; and 

16 (D) tracks student placement in appro17 priate employment, or transfer to an institution 

18 of higher education; and 

19 (4) provides equal access to the full range of ca20 reer education programs, to individuals who are 

21 members of underrepresented groups and special 

22 populations, including the development of program 

23 services appropriate to the needs of special popu24 lations. 


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1 (d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eli2 gible partnership that receives a grant under this Act may 

3 use the grant funds to— 

4 (1) provide for the acquisition of computer 

5 equipment, software, and software licenses to di6 rectly develop and support a computer science pro7 gram; 

8 (2) acquire technical assistance from State or 

9 local entities that have designed, established, and op10 erated career education programs that have effec11 tively used educational technology and distance 

12 learning in the delivery of curricula and services and 

13 in the articulation process; and 

14 (3) establish articulation agreements with insti15 tutions of higher education, and cooperative agree16 ments with labor organizations, or business located 

17 inside or outside the State and served by the eligible 

18 partnership, especially with regard to using distance 

19 learning and educational technology to provide for 

20 the delivery of services and programs. 

Æ 


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