Comment Consistency (Score 1) 175
Not all institutions have the same initial programming pathway, but it seems like a lot of US institutions (according to a CS professor friend of mine) do three foundational courses: CS 0 (Introduction to Programming), CS 1 (Object-Oriented Programming), and CS 2 (Data Structures). CS 0 is often a general education course designed for non-majors that majors with HS experience skip over. That one can be taught in any language and probably Python makes the most sense. I do think it is helpful if CS 1 and CS 2 are taught in the same language. I warn my AP CS A students (who learn Java) that if CS 2 is being taught in C++ at their university, they should probably retake CS 1 even if they already have AP credit for it. At least one of my former students who just finished undergrad took CS 1 in Java and CS 2 in C++ at the same institution (he said it made everything about the course harder).
For the parents of CS students out there, I do think AP CS A prepares students well for Data Structures. I've probably a dozen students who passed the AP CS examination as juniors to a local university for Data Structures during their senior year, and they typically get As and Bs. Sometimes they've been the best student in their sections, probably because AP CS is taught in a full year so the students get a lot more programming experience; we have time for more projects.