Dive Brief:
- Hillary Clinton released a set of policy proposals as part of her “technology and innovation” agenda.
- Politico reports her proposals include committing federal financial aid to support an expansion of computer science teacher training, with the goal of preparing 50,000 new computer science teachers in 10 years.
- Clinton would also advocate for federal grants to help schools expand their science, technology, engineering and math curricula, including doubling the Investment In Innovation grant program with 50% of funds set aside for computer science education.
Dive Insight:
As Clinton and Donald Trump turn their campaigns toward the general election, one hopes there will be concrete policy proposals coming out of both sides. Clinton has a history of making decisions about education that school leaders can scrutinize, but Trump’s plans are more difficult to examine. The issues section of his website has a short video about how he would get rid of Common Core, but there is little more about his education agenda.
When it comes to STEM education, there are significant gaps in access to a rigorous curriculum in this country, with black and Latino students less likely to go to high schools with AP physics or calculus, and even in those that do offer such classes, they are underrepresented. Under current Education Secretary John King Jr., the Department of Education has been pushing an equity agenda to adddress this disparity.