Brown to the Back and Why SHE Matters are about people who are in the room and refused. This one is about a room that was never built.
When the conversation turns to getting more Americans coding it turns almost immediately to interest, confidence and role models. All of that is real. None of it is the binding constraint for four students in ten, because there is no course in the building to be interested in.
The missing courses are not randomly distributed. 1,960 of America's 3,152 counties sit outside every metropolitan area. Of the 358 counties the USDA classifies as low-education, 305 are among them; of the 318 persistent-poverty counties, 267 are.
The five findings
Forty Percent
40% of American public high schools do not offer computer science. A student in one of those buildings cannot take it by wanting it more.
Ten Thousand Schools
More than 10,000 US high schools teach none of it at all — a list of buildings, each with a board that meets monthly.
Twelve States
Twelve states require a computer science credit to graduate and thirty-nine do not. Where the rule changed, participation moved.
Eight Percent
One high school computer science course is worth about 8% in later earnings, and the effect is largest for the students furthest from the field.
Outside Every Metro
1,960 of America's 3,152 counties sit outside every metropolitan area. Most of the map, a minority of the microphone.
Each of the five is a full package: the finding, eight routes, all 51 states, and every one of the 3,152 counties in the United States. A search from anywhere in the country has an answer written for that place.
The eight routes, and who is obliged to provide each
| Route | Who is obliged |
|---|---|
| The high school course | Required to graduate in twelve states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia |
| Dual enrollment | Publicly funded in most states |
| CTE and the regional career centre | Federally funded through Perkins |
| Community college | Open enrollment in every state |
| WIOA-funded training | A local workforce board covers every US county |
| Registered apprenticeship | Paid from the first day, where a sponsor exists |
| The public library | Open to anyone. Nobody has to teach you. |
| Self-taught online | Nothing is required of anyone. |
The rungs where someone is obliged to provide the thing are the rungs a rural student is least likely to be standing near. The rung where nobody is obliged to provide anything is the one they are told to climb alone.
Every campaign
Amigos en Acción runs eight. Each takes one group and one barrier; the last one is the sum of them.
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