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Today, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) and IBM unveiled a letter signed by more than 200 businesses, associations, and community groups urging the Senate and House of Representatives to modernize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act). First enacted in 1984, the Perkins Act is a federal program that helps states and localities around the country offset [...]
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In our increasingly connected world, too often the nation’s classrooms are an afterthought. Many schools are at or near bandwidth capacity and are relying on outdated hardware, not to mention teachers who are forced to do more teaching with fewer resources. It’s against this backdrop that we’re reminded that too few students are given the chance to explore digital tools in the classroom. And that’s [...]
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Back in 1996, when the Internet was still a nascent idea in most American homes, Congress enacted a major re-write of our telecommunications laws. Among the many provisions in the new law was a contentious proposal to increase Internet connectivity in American classrooms and libraries. E-Rate, as the program is known, was launched in 1997 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the singular [...]
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Earlier this year, ITI unveiled its last iteration of Moving Education Forward: Strengthening STEM in Today’s Classrooms -- an excellent resource that spotlights many of our member companies and the investments they’ve made in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs that prepare our nation’s students and workers for today’s dynamic economy. Today, ITI moved this book and its content [...]
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Were Grace Hopper still alive, she’d turn 107 years young on Monday, December 9th. Grace Hopper, as I’m sure you know, served in the United States Navy with great distinction. She first enlisted in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War, and served in various roles in the Navy until 1986, when she retired as the oldest active-duty [...]
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Earlier this week, Congressman John Kline, the Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, convened a hearing to discuss the increasing need for a reauthorized and revamped Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. First passed by Congress in 1984, the Perkins Act authorizes federal funds to supplement state and local investments in what was then known as vocational education, [...]
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Last week, Representative Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would redouble the nation’s focus on computer science. The legislation, the Computer Science in STEM Act of 2013 (H.R. 2982), would redefine STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the COMPETES Act of 2010 to include computer science; establish grant programs for both K-12 schools and institutions of higher [...]
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Earlier this month a bipartisan group of members in the House of Representatives introduced HR 2536, the Computer Science Education Act (CSEA). The CSEA is a modest and rather innocuous proposal that would redefine computer science as a “core academic subject” in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In the simplest terms, this means that federal funds could be used to support the teaching [...]
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This week, ITI, will unveil the latest iteration of its STEM book, Moving Education Forward: Strengthening STEM in Today’s Classrooms, spotlighting many of our member companies that are making serious investments to help build the skills America’s students and workers need to succeed in the 21st century workplace. The ITI publication promises to be an excellent resource detailing the high-tech industry’s [...]
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Grey skies and rainy weather could not dampen the spirit of excitement and opportunity as the National Academy of Sciences today marked its 150th anniversary. President Obama was on hand, and offered a look not just at the legacy of America’s researchers, but also at the enormous opportunity that this generation and the coming generations of scientists will unlock. It’s not a speech that is likely [...]