WASHINGTON, April 26, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, America's leading CEOs, governors, and educators united to send an open letter to Congress, asking for funding to provide every student in every school the opportunity to learn computer science. The signatories include Fortune 100 CEOs across industries, including the nation's largest technology companies, retailers, telecom firms, airlines, investment companies, entertainment companies, hotels, and manufacturers. They are joined by 27 governors from both sides of the aisle, as well as K-12 education leaders from the nation's largest school districts and leading education nonprofits.

Supporters of the effort also announced $48 million in new private contributions to show their commitment to increased access to computer science:

• Microsoft, Google, Infosys Foundation USA, BlackRock, AT&T, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Jeff Bezos, Omidyar Network, and others have collectively pledged $23M in contributions to Code.org.
• Google has committed an additional $10M in new funding towards computer science education efforts, to be spent in 2017.
• Microsoft has committed $10M in new funding for broadening access to K-12 computer science.
• Infosys Foundation USA has committed to issue $5M in new grants towards nonprofits and other efforts to advance computer science education.

Today, 11% of all job openings and 16% of all new wages in the U.S. are in computing fields. And aside from the jobs, Americans broadly realize that computer science is increasingly foundational to all 21st century careers.

"Ninety percent of parents want their children to have access to computer science education at school, and teachers agree," the letter states. "Despite this groundswell, three-quarters of U.S. schools do not offer meaningful computer science courses. This bipartisan issue can be addressed without growing the Federal budget."

While many states have been proactive in their efforts to boost computer science education in K-12 classrooms, the letter calls for a federal investment in computer science to ensure America remains globally competitive, secure, and prosperous in the future.

The full text of the letter and its signatories can be read here. The letter was organized by the Computer Science Education Coalition in partnership with Code.org. The coalition urges Congress to provide $250 million in Federal funding for school districts to broaden access to computer science. The organizers are collecting additional signatures of support on an online petition at www.change.org/computerscience.

The Computer Science Education Coalition is a non-profit organization comprised of businesses and NGOs focused on securing federal funds that will provide computer science education to all K-12 students. More information about the Computer Science Education Coalition is available at http://csecoalition.org.

Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. More information about Code.org is available at http://code.org/about.

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SOURCE Computer Science Education Coalition

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http://csecoalition.org