Agreed. I think a better solution to the article author's problem would be to treat 'programming' education (which is not the same thing as computer science) like a skilled trade like carpentry or plumbing, and intersperse community college courses with a formalized apprenticeship program ... it might take a while to get some traction, but it seems like it would work as a way to train programmers while not gutting our ability to do blue-sky theoretical research in computer science.