Education and Workforce Committee

Chair: Demaune Millard, President & CEO, Family League of Baltimore

Staff: Teresa Milio Birge, 410-727-2820

Description: The Education and Workforce Committee seeks to identify, support and promote programs, policies and new training and educational initiatives, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and vocational programs, designed to ensure an educated, well-trained and highly-skilled workforce that meets the needs of the Baltimore region’s diverse industries.

Membership: Membership in the Education and Workforce Committee is open to all GBC members.

Activities:

2020 Education and Workforce Committee news:

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee met on May 26, 2020, for an informal Zoom Committee Chat. Chair Demaune Millard, President & CEO, Family League of Baltimore, welcomed participants and asked each to share updates on the challenges facing their organization during the pandemic, as well as positive activities underway. The group also spent time discussing the challenges facing the city’s youth, and this summer’s YouthWorks program, redesigned for distance employment. YouthWorks will operate a virtual summer jobs program for 4,000 youth from July 13 through August 14 using a web-based tool that includes job readiness, career exploration, financial literacy, academic enrichment and skills training. The committee requested that representatives of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development join the committee at its next scheduled meeting so that they can learn more about the altered program and how businesses can help. For more information or to join the Education and Workforce Committee, please contact Teresa Milio Birge at teresab@gbc.org or Tara Harris at tarah@gbc.org.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee met on April 9, 2020, for its first virtual committee meeting. Chair Demaune Millard, President & CEO, Family League of Baltimore, welcomed Tina Hike-Hubbard, Baltimore City Public Schools Chief of Communication, Engagement and Partnerships. Hike-Hubbard shared city schools’ efforts to continue to serve students and their families during the extended school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared information about meals, technology resources and efforts to provide distance learning for all students. With Roger Schulman of the Fund for Educational Excellence, she discussed efforts to purchase adequate numbers of Chromebooks for students, as well as a program where local businesses and individuals can donate computers that are no longer needed. The computers will be reformatted and provided to the students. The committee also discussed legislation that passed during the abbreviated 2020 Maryland General Assembly session, including bills related to school construction, education reform and apprenticeship programs. Finally, the committee spent time reviewing content for the GBC School/Business Partnership Guide.

The Education and Workforce Committee met on February 6, 2020. Committee Chair Demaune Millard, President & CEO, Family League of Baltimore, welcomed Tisha Edwards, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success. Edwards shared details about this summer’s planned Rites of Passage Leadership Institute, which will target 250 of Baltimore’s most at-risk young men aged 14-to-19. The program will offer these young men a five-week residential experience on a local college campus, with programming to address college- and career-planning, financial literacy, personal resiliency, conflict resolution, and healthy relationships. Participants will also participate in the paid summer job program, YouthWorks. Finally, the program will provide these young men with sustained mentor relationships and post-program support. The committee also discussed legislation pending before the Maryland General Assembly and discussed progress on the GBC School/Partnership Guide.

2019 Education and Workforce Committee news:

In 2019, The Education and Workforce Committee held five meetings. Topics included Career Technology Education (CTE) programs in secondary schools, mentoring programs and recommendations of the Maryland Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (Kirwan Commission) and business/school partnerships. The committee has begun work on a guide to help both schools and businesses engage in successful partnerships.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee convened on November 21, 2019. At the request of Committee Chair Deamune Millard, President & CEO, Family League of Baltimore, Adrea Turner, GBC’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Senior Policy Advisor, updated the committee on the status of the GBC Regional Workforce Development Initiative. The committee then received an update on the status of the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education’s activity and recommendations from Teresa Milio Birge, GBC Senior Policy Analyst and Special Assistant. Finally, the committee discussed ideas for inclusion in its committee project, a guide to assist schools and businesses in creating effective, sustainable partnerships.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee convened on September 19, 2019. Committee Chair Deamune Millard, President and CEO, Family League of Baltimore, welcomed committee members and had them briefly introduce themselves. Tenne’ Thrower, Family and Community Engagement Specialist for Baltimore City Public Schools, shared information about the new Office of Communications and Community Engagement, and its efforts to move partnerships from transactional to transformational. Dr. Rachel Pfeifer, Executive Director of College and Career Readiness for Baltimore City Public Schools, shared information about career technology education and how businesses can engage in meaningful partnerships with city schools for the benefit of both students and businesses. Following the presentations, the committee discussed how to best move forward with the creation of a guide to assist schools and businesses in creating effective, sustainable partnerships.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee heard from Roger Schulman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Fund for Educational Excellence, at its April 11, 2019 meeting. Schulman discussed the recently released report “Broken Pathways – The Cracks in Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Baltimore City Schools.”

The Fund for Educational Excellence interviewed 114 recent students who had been enrolled in CTE programs, as well as 25 current teachers. The report, which examined the impressions of former students and current teachers regarding the CTE program, made several recommendations for how CTE in City Schools could be improved. Recommendations include providing year-round, paid internships to all CTE students, giving younger students more information on the CTE programs available to them in high school and allowing more time in student schedules for CTE classes. The Fund for Educational Excellence also recommended that City Schools engage in a complete overhaul of its CTE programs.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee heard from Charisse Williams, Managing Director of New Site Development for iMentor, at its February 21, 2019 meeting. Williams told the committee that iMentor, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping young people meet their fullest potential, has selected Baltimore as its next expansion city and she is currently talking to Baltimore City Public Schools about how to determine where to start the program.

iMentor, which can reach up to 400 students in its first year, targets eleventh graders at a school and mentors will continue to work with those students through at least the first year post-high school. The program and curriculum are very structured, so mentors need only to have a minimum of an associate degree and a strong desire to positively impact the life of a young person. Williams also explained how someone interested in the program can get involved.

Teresa Milio Birge, GBC Senior Policy Analyst/Special Assistant, then briefed the committee on education related legislation under consideration by the Maryland General Assembly.

2018 Education and Workforce Committee news:

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee met on November 8, 2018 for a discussion regarding family supporting jobs. Leading the discussion was Mike Kelly, Executive Director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC), who focused his remarks on the recently-released 2018 Family-Supporting Jobs Report.

Kelly said family supporting jobs are defined as those that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree. The report identified 39 occupations in middle-skills jobs areas that can provide a family-supporting wage, which is determined to be a minimum of $22.28 per hour based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator. It is important for the Greater Baltimore region’s employers, educators and workforce professionals to focus on middle skill employment for residents for whom a four-year degree is not the best fit.

The September 27, 2018 meeting of the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Education and Workforce Committee featured a presentation from Dr. Lynne Gilli, Assistant State Superintendent for the Division of Career and College Readiness at the Maryland State Department of Education.

Dr. Gilli focused her discussion on the State of Maryland’s system of Career Technology Education (CTE) initiatives, which aim to promote college and career readiness. She provided a briefing on the Apprenticeship Maryland program, a CTE program of study for students ages 16 and older designed to prepare them for sustainable employment and further education based on career pathways in manufacturing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields as well as traditional occupations.

Dr. Gilli also briefed the Committee on the P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools) program. P-TECH schools are innovative early college programs that create clear pathways from high school to college and careers for students. In six years or less, students graduate from a P-TECH school with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee met on June 7, 2018 and engaged in two distinct discussions. First, the Committee heard a presentation from Richard Jones, President of Mahan Rykiel. The Baltimore-based landscape architecture firm recently initiated Project Birdland, which created outside learning landscapes for students at Francis Scott Key Elementary School. The project focused on four key factors: teacher and professional development; student experimental learning; youth workforce development; and habitat restoration.

Following that presentation, the Committee engaged in a discussion with Corrie Schoenberg, Senior Program Director for the Fund for Educational Excellence, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that works to secure the resources necessary to support innovation and increase student achievement in Baltimore City schools. Schoenberg discussed the nonprofit’s efforts to complete an analysis of career and technical education in Baltimore City schools.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee’s April 12, 2018 meeting featured a presentation from Phil Rogofsky, Director of the Maryland STEM Festival Blue Collar STEM Conference. Rogofsky recapped the 2017 festival and updated the Committee on planning efforts for the 2018 event, which is slated to be held on October 29, 2018 at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City. The 2018 festival will again include multiple tracks related to enhancing blue collar STEM and will add a job fair. He cited the GBC/Associated Black Charities report, STEM:  Middle-Skill Career Pathways in the Baltimore Region, as in influence for the festival.

The Committee also heard a presentation about the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, better known as the Kirwan Commission after its chair, Dr. William E. “Brit” Kirwan. The Commission is charged with addressing two critical issues: review and update the current funding formulas for the schools in Maryland and develop policies and practices so that Maryland’s schools perform at the level of the world’s best systems. These issues are of critical importance to Maryland, including the creation of a well-educated populace that is able to meet current and future workforce requirements. It is imperative that the efforts of the Kirwan Commission have support from the business community.

Finally, the Committee received a presentation about the 2018 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly, which concluded Sine Die on April 9, 2018. Regarding education and workforce initiatives, the legislature passed bills to institute a computer science curriculum in schools, ensure reliable funding for Baltimore City schools, improve career education and enhance opportunities for apprenticeships.

The GBC Education and Workforce Committee convened on February 8, 2018 to hear two presentations. First, Michael Thomas, Vice President for Workforce Development and Continuing Education for Baltimore City Community College (BCCC), discussed the institution’s efforts to provide for the training and workforce development needs of the region. BCCC plays an important role in meeting Baltimore City’s current and future workforce needs.

The Committee also received a presentation from two members of Governor Larry Hogan’s Legislative Office, Keiffer Mitchell, Special Advisor, and Ali Keane, Deputy Legislative Officer. Mitchell discussed Governor Hogan’s education and workforce priorities and accomplishments, including a Fiscal Year 2019 budget pending in the Maryland General Assembly that provides $6.5 billion for K-12 education. Keane briefed the Committee on the Governor’s legislative agenda for education and workforce. She focused on SB300 and HB350, which are identical bills entitled “Achieving Computer Science Collaborations for Employing Students Statewide (ACCESS) Act of 2018”, which seek to implement a computer science curriculum in Maryland public schools.