I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2536 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to strengthen elementary and secondary computer science education, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana (for herself, Mr. POLIS, Mr. HANNA, Ms. DELBENE, 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. DAVIS of 

California, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. MESSER, and Mr. 

DELANEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to strengthen elementary and secondary computer science education, and for other purposes. 

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 

5 Education Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2536 IH

1 (1) Computer science is transforming industry, 

2 creating new fields of commerce, driving innovation 

3 in all fields of science, and bolstering productivity in 

4 established economic sectors. 

5 (2) Computer science underpins the information 

6 technology sector of the United States, which is a 

7 significant contributor to the economic output of the 

8 United States. 

9 (3) The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 

10 that there will be 9,200,000 jobs in the fields of 

11 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by 

12 the year 2020. Half of these, or 4,600,000 jobs, will 

13 be in computing. 

14 (4) The average annual salary in computer 

15 science is $76,000. 

16 (5) Elementary and secondary computer science 

17 education gives students a deeper knowledge of the 

18 fundamentals of computing, yielding critical thinking 

19 skills that will serve students throughout their lives 

20 in numerous fields. 

21 (6) Students who take the College Board’s AP 

22 computer science test are 8 times more likely to 

23 major in computer science in college. Unfortunately, 

24 the College Board reports that of the 3,400,000 AP 

25 exams given in 2011, just under 1,000,000 of those 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2536 IH

1 were in the sciences. About 20,000 of those were in 

2 computer science, accounting for 2 percent of the 

3 science exams and 1 percent of all AP exams. Of the 

4 20,000 computer science AP test takers in 2011, 

5 only 4,000 were females. 

6 (7) In the 2012–2013 school year, only 9 states 

7 allowed computer science courses to count toward 

8 secondary school core graduation requirements, 

9 chilling student interest in computer science courses. 

10 (8) The Computer Science Teachers Association 

11 (CSTA) has found that many States do not have a 

12 certification or licensure process for computer 

13 science teachers. Where processes do exist, they 

14 often have no connection to rigorous computer 

15 science content. 

16 (9) Computer science education has been en17 cumbered by confusion regarding the related but dis18 tinct concepts of computer science education, tech19 nology education, and the use of technology in edu20 cation. 

21 (10) The Association for Computing Machinery 

22 and the CSTA have established a clear 4-part, 

23 grade-appropriate framework of standards for com24 puter science education to guide State reform ef25 forts. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2536 IH

1 (11) With the growing importance of computing 

2 in society, the need for students to understand the 

3 fundamentals of computing and the significant chal4 lenges elementary and secondary computer science 

5 education faces, broad support for computer science 

6 education is needed to catalyze reform. 

7 SEC. 3. COMPUTER SCIENCE DEFINITIONS. 

8 Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

11 (43) as paragraphs (8) through (44), respectively; 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(7) COMPUTER SCIENCE.—The term ‘com15 puter science’ means the study of computers and al16 gorithmic processes and includes the study of com17 puting principles, computer hardware and software 

18 design, computer applications, and the impact of 

19 computers on society.’’; 

20 (3) in paragraph (12), as so redesignated, by 

21 striking ‘‘and geography’’ and inserting ‘‘geography, 

22 and computer science’’; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2536 IH

1 (4) in subparagraph (A)(i) of paragraph (35), 

2 as so redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(including com3 puter science)’’ after ‘‘academic subjects’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS