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Media Alert: Skills to Compete: How Our Schools Are Strengthening Maryland's Future Workforce

State Superintendent Dr. Lillian Lowery to Address Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Summer Conference

For Immediate Release                                                   Contact: Amy Bernstein, 410-767-0477

Baltimore, MD (August 12, 2015)

State Superintendent Dr. Lillian Lowery will participate on a panel highlighting how state, federal, and local education officials and community colleges are collaborating to strengthen Maryland’s economy by developing and delivering effective training for students to help fill immediate local labor needs; expanding apprenticeship options; better aligning secondary and post-secondary education with future workforce needs; and other strategies.

WHEN:         Saturday, Aug. 15, 9:30-11:30am

WHERE:       Roland Powell Convention Center, Ocean City, MD
                     Room 203 

WHO:          Dr. Lillian Lowery, Maryland State Superintendent
                    Kelly M. Schulz, Secretary, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation
                    Dr. Bernard Sadusky, Executive Director,
                           Maryland Association of Community Colleges
                    Vennard Wright, CIO, Prince George’s County
                    Moderator: The Honorable Eric Luedtke, Maryland House of Delegates

 

Additional Background
In the 2014 Interim Report of the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission, Maryland employers reported they cannot find candidates possessing the necessary skills to fill approximately 132,000 unfilled jobs in the state. MSDE, the U.S. Department of Education, and local community colleges are working together to close this gap, in part through licensure, certification, and customized training programs. In addition, Maryland’s new Apprenticeship Maryland Act, passed by the General Assembly in the last session, establishes a two-year apprenticeship pilot project, which is now being planned in three high schools in Prince George’s County.


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