The Daily Delegate

Forum Senate Bill 209 is a bill that requires the teaching of technology fundamentals and production to be added to California’s 6th Grade curriculum. Starting in the 2028-29 school year, public Californian elementary or middle schools must implement a new technology course for students in the 6th grade. Schools that fail to comply would be recognized as not meeting education standards. Additionally, schools would be subject to a rating system based on the average grade point of their students. If this average is below 2.0, then schools would be subject to levels of punishment depending on the consecutive years of low performance.

After the first year, schools will be required to post their ratings (written as a letter grade), which will be administered via the advisors of California’s Department of Education on their front desk for prospective families to see. After 3 years, schools will be subject to fines equivalent to 5% of their funding as punishment. This amount will then go back into the state budget.

This proposed course must contain units on the production of phones, tablets, and computers during the first semester. During the teaching of production, the course must inform students about the components of technology, where technology is sourced, and who develops/builds it. During the second semester, this class must discuss topics relating to internet safety, AI, and research on the Web. During the teaching of the fundamentals, students must learn about maintaining privacy, how to use AI as a tool, and how to find/utilize reliable sources of information on the internet.

While this bill could be incredibly useful for future generations, there are few flaws that could prevent it from being enacted. One of these flaws is lack of staffing or resources, such as individually distributed computers or other supplies needed to teach these classes. According to the National Center of Education Statistics, 26% of public schools in the USA report not having enough funding to pay teachers and for supplies. How are schools in low income areas supposed to pay for an additional class when they can barely pay for their current courses? In addition to this, there will be increasing concerns about technological safety among students. Because of the information taught in these classes, many students will abuse their new found knowledge. This could bring up security concerns and increased accounts of plagiarism.

Overall, this bill could be of use for our younger generations. However, we are simply not ready for the introduction of these classes. This bill should be modified to have more safeguards in order to prevent incidents.