Montgomery schools steer students toward in-demand computer science careers
A dozen flyers are taped to the window of Jay Mathis’ computer lab at Blacksburg High School.
Each sheet, marked at the bottom with the logo of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, publicizes nuggets about various jobs in the broad field of computers. (For example: a duty of a cyber forensics expert is to investigate data breaches and security incidents.)
That job can earn a median annual salary of about $70,000 and requires a bachelor’s degree in either cybersecurity or computer science, according to the literature.
Next to that flyer is another on the job of cyber crime investigator. That job’s median salary is a few thousand dollars less, but requires no college degree.
The advertisements on the computer lab window aren’t there to just help drum up interest in Montgomery County Public Schools’ computer science curriculum.
Starting this semester, MCPS became the first Virginia school district to offer all of its high schoolers dual-enrollment computer science courses that will count as credit at a local community college — in this case, New River Community College.
To learn more, check out the whole article below.