In a new planned partnership between Washington state and Microsoft, the technology powerhouse will be supplying software and training to every high school within the state.
The news comes from an announcement made on Monday by Washington’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn.
According to Dorn’s statement, he is close to an agreement with Microsoft for the creation of an Information Technology Academy in Washinton State which will involve every high school statewide.
A report from the Seattle PI says that the agreement will be tackled in a House Education Committee today.
According to the report, the program consists of two main parts which are training and certification.
In the training component, students and teachers alike will be trained through online courses and Microsoft materials. The second component will enable teachers and students to be certified in numerous subjects in the field from basic to advanced.
The Seattle PI report quotes Dorn saying that “We’ve been working on this plan for about four months.”
“We’re very close to an agreement. But the agreement requires legislative approval before we can make it available to students. The cost is $2 million. That small investment could get us a program that would cost school districts $30 million if they purchased this program individually,” he said.
