Computer coding could sub for language requirement

State senators are trying again this year to pass a bill that would allow students to take computer coding in place of foreign language classes and still qualify for admission to state universities.

A similar bill, which faced objections from foreign-language advocates and others, was approved by the Senate last year but then died in the House.

Supporters say that in an increasingly technologybased world, students would benefit from taking computer science in high school. That would prepare them to study the subject in college and put them on a path to earning a degree in a field with many good-paying jobs.

They’ve proposed the swap so students have room in their schedules to take computer science.

Educators say enrollment in coding and computer science classes has jumped in recent years, but it remains relatively small, especially in the Advanced Placement version. There were more than 839,000 teenagers enrolled in Florida’s high schools last year, for example, and fewer than 2,700 took AP computer science.

The measure (SB 104) would require school districts by the 2019-20 school year to provide coding classes of “sufficient rigor” that they could be swapped for foreign language courses.

Students who take computer coding instead of two or three years of, say, Spanish, could still be eligible for admission to Florida’s state universities and to earn Bright Futures scholarships, both of which currently require at least two years of foreign language.

But before students made that choice, they and their parents would have to acknowledge they might be at a disadvantage applying to out-of-state colleges.

Already, some advocates for foreign language instruction are objecting to the reboot of the computer-science bill. As they did last year, they are arguing coding can’t be equated to French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese or any other “world language” now offered in the state’s public schools.

“Safeguard communication [with] the rest of the world,” tweeted Rosa Castro Feinberg, a retired Florida university professor active in Hispanic education issues, this morning.

Her tweet also urged those opposed to the bill to call lawmakers on the Senate panel and urge them to vote down the bill.

Code.org, a national organization pushing schools to give more students access to computer science classes, doesn’t think a foreign language swap is the way to go, either.

It wants computer science viewed as its own distinct subject — and an important one. As a practical matter, it thinks Arkansas might have a good solution, creating a “computer science flex credit” that allows students to substitute that computer science credit for a math or science requirement needed for graduation.

The organization says other states could be even more flexible, allowing students to use that “flex credit” in place of any other core reimbursement. That could include, but would not be limited to, foreign language.