Press Release - Office of the Governor

Governor O'Malley Hosts P-20 Leadership Council

Council Charged with Aligning State’s Education and Workforce Programs

ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 11, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley hosted the O’Malley-Brown Administration’s  P-20 Leadership Council today and charged the Council with better aligning Maryland’s education systems with workforce demands.  The P-20 Leadership Council, created in 2007 by Executive Order 01.01.2007.20, was established to create an integrated statewide system to better prepare Maryland students for the jobs of the 21st century while enhancing the State’s economic competitiveness by creating a workforce with 21st century skills. 

“The people of Maryland are our greatest asset and our continued economic strength depends upon our ability to invest in them, and prepare our children today for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Governor O’Malley.  “This Council fosters partnerships between the State of Maryland educators and the business community to generate new ideas to align our education systems with the needs of employers that are innovative and ambitious to prepare our students to compete in the 21st Century.”

The P20 Council is made up of 35 stakeholders from all levels of education, labor and business sectors with the charge of  seeking the best way to better prepare Maryland students for the jobs of the 21st Century while enhancing the State’s economic competitiveness by creating a workforce with 21st Century skills.  Governor O’Malley charged the Council to action by establishing the current Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Career and Technical Education (CTE) baselines, identifying the gaps between baseline and current needs and developing a strategic plan to fill those gaps. 

The group will focus on issues facing Maryland such as the Base Realignment and Closure Process (BRAC), Maryland’s growing demand for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics oriented employees and the growing needs of the trade fields.

Over the course of the past week, Governor O’Malley held a number of events to highlight current, ongoing and future efforts to build a comprehensive workforce creation system that will provide more opportunities for all Marylanders and secure Maryland’s position in an increasingly competitive global economy.  Efforts underway in Maryland include strategic re-alignment among state agencies; the creation of the P-20 Council to better align our educational system with workforce goals; the launch and creation of apprenticeship and training programs; and funding to address the State’s nursing shortage.

The Council members include: 

• Governor Martin O’Malley
• Secretary of Higher Education, James Lyons, Ph.D.
• Secretary of Business and Economic Development, David Edgerley
• Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, Thomas Perez, Esq.
• Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William Kirwan, Ph.D
• State Superintendent of Schools, Nancy Grasmick, Ph.D
• Chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, Kevin O’Keefe
• President of the Maryland State Board of Education, Dunbar Brooks
• Superintendent of Washington County Public Schools, Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D
• Harford County Board of Education, Mark Wolkow
• President of the Maryland State Teachers Association, English, Clara Floyd
• Principal of Richard Montgomery High School, E. Moreno Carrasco
• Acting Executive Director of the Maryland Committee for Children, Steve Rohde
• Assistant State Superintendent for Career & Technology Education, Katharine Oliver
• Executive Director of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges, H. Clay Whitlow, Esq.
• President of Wor-wic Community College and MD Council of Community College Presidents, Murray Hoy, Ed.D., Esq.
• President, Maryland Independent Colleges & Universities Association, Tina Bjarekull
• President of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Mary Seurkamp, Ph.D
• President of Morgan State University, Earl Richardson, Ed.D
• Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering at John Hopkins University, Nicholas Jones, Ph.D
• President of the University of Maryland University College, Susan Aldridge, Ph.D
• President of Towson University, Robert Caret, Ph.D
• Chair of the Education Policy Committee for USM Board of Regents, Patricia Florestano, Ph.D
• USM Board of Regents Education Policy Committee member, Alicia Hoffman
• Chair of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, William Robertson
• Executive Director of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, Eric Seleznow
• Executive Director of the Maryland Business Roundtable, June Streckfus
• K-12 education consultant for Cisco Systems, Peter Cevenini
• Former co-owner of TESST College of Technology, Richard Armbruster
• Howard University Education Administrator, Alvin Thornton, Ph.D
• Former GWIB Director and Deputy Attorney General, Eleanor Carey, Esq.
• Former Talbot County School Board member, Hope Reynolds Harrington
• Dean of the Salisbury University Seidel School, President of the Maryland Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Dennis A. Pataniczek, Ph.D
• Chair of the Education Policy Committee for the Maryland Higher Education Committee, Joann Boughman, Ph.D
• Assistant Secretary for Planning and Academic Affairs for the Maryland Higher Education Committee, George Reid, Ph.D