Advocating for CS: Washington AP Day at the Capitol
Washington state educators and students met at the capitol building on January 25th, 2026, to talk about the importance of AP exam program funding in our state and its impact for low-income students. The funding for low-income students taking AP exams used to fully cover all exam expenses, but was left out of the current state educational budget while other programs such as Running Start and College in the High School are fully funded for all students. This has caused many school administrators to consider dropping AP courses from their course offerings, which would result in a reduction of AP computer sciences offered in our state. As an AP computer science teacher and representative of CSTA Washington, I took this opportunity to meet with House representatives, Senators and policy advisors to explain the benefits of AP computer sciences courses and their impact on high school graduation rates.
Benefits of AP Computer Science Courses in Washington
AP computer science courses are uniquely positioned to help students who struggle with meeting both math and English graduation requirements. Currently, 60% of students in Washington state do not pass state standardized math tests and are left looking for other options to meet high school graduation requirements. In 2019, legislation (HB 1599) removed the requirement that an individual student pass the state standardized assessments to graduate and replaced it with a set of pathway options.
One of the pathway options for the math requirement is earning a C+ in both semesters for either AP Computer Science Principles or Computer Science A. This has helped many students in our state as other options such as AP Statistics or Calculus are conceptually more demanding in their content and do not serve students who traditionally struggle with mathematics. Specifically, AP CS Principles as an introductory course in computer science has a 61.9% national pass rate on the AP exam. The course is suited for grades 9 – 12 and is project-based allowing for student agency making it a course that students find relevance in. Earning a C+ in this course when compared with other AP courses has been shown to be a better option for a greater variety of students, particularly our low-income students who have less resources and support at home.
The End Result of AP Day at the Capitol
Collectively, we participated in 40 legislative meetings with House Representatives, Senators, and policy advisors. We also toured the Governor’s Office, received greetings from Governor Bob Ferguson’s Chief of Staff, Shane Esquibel, and connected with more than a dozen elected officials, policymakers, and interns during the legislative luncheon.
Almost everyone we talked to was unaware the funding had lapsed from the education budget. After speaking on many of the points above, and also sharing student stories, much support to bring back AP exam funding for low-income students was achieved. Most of the legislators and representatives we talked to commented that AP, Running Start and College in the High School need to be equally funded. Overall, we were well-received and very appreciative for the opportunity.
