Coding in education has two very distict looks: the coding piece (languages like Java, C, etc.) that I believe Ms Wente is referring to and the other I'll descibe shortly. Ms Wente is off base as far as what is being done in Primary, Elementary & even Middle Years across Canada. "Coding" is really the wrong word for what is really going on, which consists of: computational thinking, problem solving, logical reasoning, collaboration & other items embedded in Fullan's 6Cs. These WOULD be consider life skills necessary in most any job - go figure. Students today are engaged in using a variety of tools like Robotics, i/o devices like Microbits & Makey Makeys that allow students to collect real data in the context of their curricular area classes. This always involves the skills mentioned above and sometimes the use of block programming tools like Scratch - that hide "code" letting students focus instead on logic by the way. So, I disagree with Ms Wente on most counts. And so should you.