I agree with the sentiment, but it's important to note that excellent programming requires some pretty high level theoretical understanding of Computer Science

I agree with the sentiment, but it's important to note that excellent programming requires some pretty high level theoretical understanding of Computer Science (i.e. Algorithms). There's a slow way to do everything and a fast way to do some things; programmers need to understand the theory behind this. In addition, if you're trying to teach someone how to write secure code, they're going to need at least some understanding of crypto. Crypto has theoretical aspects to it as well. Basically when you keep all the parts of theory that are useful to programming, there isn't much extra stuff left. It turns out the things you could remove only amount to about one theory course in your standard competitive Computer Science curriculum. The real reason why we have an issue producing quality programmers is more fundamental; we just don't have enough people who are good at teaching it. It's not because we "waste" time on one or two courses on some theoretical aspects. Another thing to consider is allowing Computer Science majors to opt out of general education requirements in favor of more programming classes. Allowing this would free up a semester or more for most undergraduates (as opposed to the one course saved from cutting theory). Even with just average teaching, a semester can make a big difference.