U.S. Secretary Of Education, Gov. O'Malley Announce Job Skills Partnership
SILVER SPRING, Md. (WJZ)—Maryland continues to ride a roller coaster in job creation in the state. More than 10,000 private sector jobs were added last month, but as political reporter Pat Warren explains, the state's job skills fall short of employer needs.
Made to order, Maryland enters a public-private partnership with Discovery Communications to promote job growth. But it's not random job growth. The intent is to steer students into areas most in need of workers-- what used to be called vocational education.
"We gave it a bad name - vocational - now it's called career and technical education," said Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Discovery Communications is partnering with Montgomery College to promote job skills.
The partnership has the endorsement of the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
"I meet with employers all the time who say we are desperately trying to hire," Duncan said. "We can't find the workers with the skills to come work with us."
"The truth is there is tremendous opportunities to be realized if you have an additional certificate after high school or two years of skills," O'Malley said.
The idea is to provide more incentives to steer all Marylanders into a new era of marketable jobs skills.
The state has a goal to increase certifiable workforce skills 20 percent by 2012.
The state is looking for more business partnerships with Maryland community colleges.
