(DES MOINES) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday, 49 Iowa school districts and schools will receive money from a new $1 million fund to build their computer science teacher workforce. The funding is part of a broader effort to expand computer science education in schools across the state. This effort is in line with the Future Ready Iowa initiative, which is about preparing more Iowans for rewarding, high-demand jobs and getting employers the skilled workers they need.

Among the school districts (locally), was: Hamburg; Nodaway Valley; and West Central Valley. Schools will use the incentive fund to pay for professional learning or university coursework for teaching endorsements in computer science.

The new computer science professional development incentive fund, along with new voluntary statewide computer science standards, were established as part of a 2017 bill that encourages high-quality computer science instruction in every elementary, middle and high school.

The incentive fund, announced in June, drew 29 applications representing 49 public school districts and nonpublic schools in urban, rural and suburban parts of the state. One application represented a team of rural elementary, middle and high schools within Keystone Area Education Agency in northeast Iowa.

All 49 schools and districts will receive funding to pay for a range of teacher preparation, including courses for teaching endorsements, intensive training, conferences and professional learning programs that prepare educators to provide high-quality instruction in computer science. Award recipients will report on their progress by the end of the 2018-19 school year.

Iowa legislators set aside $500,000 for the incentive fund. The rest of the money will come from a 2007 settlement of an Iowa class-action anti-trust lawsuit filed against Microsoft Corp. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Iowans who had bought the company’s programs at allegedly inflated prices, and the settlement agreement included setting aside a portion of unclaimed money for technology in Iowa schools.