@ByKristenMClark
Organizations that represent black and Hispanic Floridians released a joint statement Monday declaring their opposition to legislation that would let high school students count computer coding as a foreign language class.
The measure passed the Senate, 35-5, last week, and its companion bill awaits consideration on the House floor.
The groups who joined in Monday's statement were the NAACP's Florida Conference and Miami-Dade branch, the Florida chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD).
"Our children need skills in both technology and in foreign languages to compete in today's global economy," the joint statement reads. "However, to define coding and computer science as a foreign language is a misleading and mischievous misnomer that deceives our students, jeopardizes their eligibility to admission to universities, and will result in many losing out on the foreign language skills they desperately need even for entry-level jobs in South Florida.
"We stand with Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, educators, parents, the (Florida Education Association) and (United Teachers of Dade), and other advocacy organizations in asking our legislators to vote NO on HB 887."
The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, and Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate. Ring is a former Yahoo executive, who has spearheaded the measure as a means to better prepare today's students for in-demand careers in the technology sector.
On the Senate floor last week, Ring said he believed a person who knows computer coding is "bilingual."
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