I see several comments on this thread re: 'where are they going to get the teachers?' Not sure what Chicago is planning to do, but I'd love to see them follow t

I see several comments on this thread re: 'where are they going to get the teachers?' Not sure what Chicago is planning to do, but I'd love to see them follow the TEALS k-12 model (http://www.tealsk12.org/ http://www.tealsk12.org/) - TEALS is an organization that brings software engineers into high schools to teach computer science (so you, yes you, can teach CS!) - there is a regular classroom teacher in the classroom w/ you, and while they help you out w/ teaching/classroom management etc, you are helping them to learn about computer science - so after a few semesters of assisting in intro CS classes, these full-time teachers are prepared to teach it themselves. Awesome program. Also, notes on AP CS - a few years ago, the AP CS AB test (this is the one with all the data structures and stuff) was discontinued - currently the only AP CS class that exists is the AP CS A test (that is, the easier version, that covers a fraction of the material of the AB test). Also currently under development is "AP CS Principles" - an even softer, more humanities focused AP course that deals w/ the role of computers in society in addition to programming. I have mixed feelings about this - on one hand, it'll introduce way more kids to computer science and give them a degree of technical literacy that today's kids really ought to have... on the other hand, not sure how I feel about the 'dumbing down' of the curriculum - I loved CS AB - it was probably the best course I took in high school, and it's a shame that many students will no longer have that opportunity.