Dive Brief:

• In a 35-5 vote, the Florida Senate overwhelmingly voted to approve a proposal that would allow coding classes to count for foreign language credits.
• Should it pass the state's House and Gov. Rick Scott, the new measure would take effect in the 2018-19 school year, and public colleges and universities in the state would be required to accept coding credits toward foreign language requirements for admission.
• Though the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jeremy Ring, said that there would be no financial impact on districts, critics expressed concern that there's no budget allocation to provide computers to Florida classrooms without them, as well as the possibility of scrapping foreign language learning. 

Dive Insight:

When directly asked whether or not someone who understands how to code is bilingual, Ring, a former Yahoo executive, reportedly replied, "In my mind, I think yeah."

It's interesting logic that some district officials might find hard to swallow. In a state like Florida, where Spanish is spoken heavily in many cities and towns, creating a system in which computer science and foreign languages compete in order to exist might not do students any favors.

Other states, like North Carolina, have taken a different approach to implementing new tech-oriented initiatives and coding classes, relying on what seems to be one general rule: Communication, planning, and a slow, well-considered roll-out with adequate funding can create success. 

More than 60 school districts, including Houston and Los Angeles, have plans to offer computer science to all students, and some want to include coding as a graduation requirement — though it remains to be seen how many other states will follow suit on allowing it to count as a foreign language.

Recommended Reading

eSchoolNews: Could coding count as a foreign language?