[Billthedrill]

Hooboy, where to begin? The difference between computer science and programming is a very large one and it's getting larger. Coding is an essential skill, to be sure, but it isn't really done at the elementary school level anymore. When I first learned it, to get the computer to print "Hello, world!" was a bit of black magic that had us all cheering. These days, a kid who already has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a high-level games character is going to be a lot less impressed (although he should be).

The difficulty is that computer science is a derivative course of study demanding a grasp of fundamentals in mathematics, logic, and even a bit of systems analysis. It is precisely those fundamentals that Common Core appears to have a difficult time communicating, and I'm not sure the problem is money. I think it's curriculum.

[Do the math]

Most computer science students in my discrete math class do not pass. It is a rigorous theorem-proof course. It has to be a hard class to prepare them for the discrete structures course they have to take care in computer science. A lot of those students change their major because of the math.