A new coalition, the Computer Science Education Coalition, whose mission is to focus on securing federal funds to provide computer science education to all K-12 students, launches today. The coalition is, “a non-profit organization that will encourage Congress to invest $250 million in funding for a crucially needed investment in K-12 computer science education.” At launch, the coalition is composed of 43 members, ranging from industry (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, to name a few) to NGOs (CRA, ACM, NCWIT, etc), the membership is a venerable who’s-who of the CS community; check out the coalition’s website for a full list of members.

As stated in the coalition’s press release announcing the launch, “K-12 education in computer science is essential to keeping the U.S. competitive, economically strong, and secure.” Taking advantage of President Obama’s Computer Science for All initiative, the coalition hopes to have an impact on this year’s federal budget and keep the momentum going. As Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org, said in the coalition’s press release, “By investing in K-12 computer science, Congress has the opportunity to give every student a chance to participate in the fastest-growing, highest-paid jobs in the U.S., and address the diversity problem within our tech sector.”

As a member of the coalition, CRA is looking forward to working with the other organizations to expand access to CS education and, “better prepare Americans for life in an IT-integrated world.”