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November 1, 2007 (Baltimore) The growing shortage of teachers at all levels of education and across all educational disciplines in Maryland was the subject of a symposium sponsored by the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board’s (GWIB) Education Industry Initiatives Committee. The GWIB’s Education Industry Initiative Steering Committee, created specifically to address education sector workforce issues, brought together a respected group of education experts and practitioners today, to develop a set of recommendations to address current and future workforce shortages for Maryland’s educational institutions.
The GWIB’s Education Industry Initiative Steering Committee, chaired by Towson University President Robert L. Caret, is charged with addressing the challenges of the education sector and is composed of leaders who represent PreK-12, community colleges, business/technical/trade schools, public and private colleges and universities, state government, and educational commissions.
"We are working together to develop policies and processes to build a pipeline for teachers, administrators, professors, education leaders and support staff,” Dr. Caret explained. “Our goal is to develop innovative and actionable recommendations to address the shortage of skilled workers for K-12, community college, and higher education. Our future depends on it."
According to a recent white paper issued by the GWIB, nearly 25% of the education industry workforce is over the age of 55 and another 27 % is in the 45 – 55 age group. With almost 50% of the education workforce nearing retirement, there is a general shortage of teachers at all levels and across all disciplines. Shortages are even more critical in specific academic disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and math. Jobs in the education sector account for nearly 9% of Maryland’s employment base. From 2001- 2005, nearly 11,500 jobs were created in education, with advances in elementary and secondary schools accounting for 55% of the overall growth.
“I commend the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and Dr. Caret in particular, for leading the effort on these critical workforce and education issues,” said Tom Perez, Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. “Maryland’s 21st century workforce depends on having an adequate supply of well trained and skilled teachers, instructors and support staff to educate and train our workforce of tomorrow.”
Recommendations from the education symposium include:
- Develop strategies to attract and recruit professionals from the science, technology, engineering, and math related disciplines to the teaching profession
- Educate youth on careers possibilities in education
- Develop incentives to recruit and retain instructors in both K-12 and Higher Education
- Focus on retaining recent college graduates with education degrees, utilizing their talents in Maryland
The mission of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board (GWIB) is to guide a nationally recognized workforce development system aligned with the economic and educational goals of the State of Maryland, resulting in a qualified workforce available to employers in the State of Maryland. To fulfill this mission, GWIB has moved to a focus on a demand-driven and supply focused workforce development system. This approach engages high-level leaders from businesses, government, education and the community who work collaboratively through an industry initiative process to identify and document their industry’s complex workforce demands and critical issues. |
