Governor Brown puts $5 million towards computer science education

EUGENE, Ore. -- More money is coming to schools in Oregon, Governor Kate Brown announced during a visit to Eugene Friday afternoon.

“With the help of my colleague here, Director Gill, dedicating five million dollars in governor's emergency education funds -- fondly known as GEAR program -- to provide grants to school districts and to community based organizations to provide opportunities like this to our students of color, for our women and for our rural students,” Gov. Brown said.

Gov. Brown spoke to half a dozen students who are involved with Connected Lane County, an organization designed to offer an out of school education for programs like Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Gov. Brown said she knows gaps exist in Oregon school systems and hopes this money will help bridge that gap.

“We have an incredible opportunity right now in Oregon to leverage federal dollars to expand educational opportunities for our historically underserved students and we have to take advantage of this opportunity,” Gov. Brown said.

The Oregon Department of Education and Higher Education Coordinating Commission will work to develop a statewide implementation plan for computer science education.

“Every student has a dream and the potential to make it a reality and our charge is to use every tool we can to help unlock their talent and help them achieve their dreams,” said Colt Gill, Oregon Department of Education Director.

Gov. Brown said programs like Career and Technical Education and STEM have only grown over the last few years, and now is the time to invest in programs like this to give students the best possible chance at success.

“Every student in Oregon deserves access to programs like these,” Gov. Brown said.

The program will provide access to computer science education opportunities for every public high school student by the 2027-2028 school year.