Ehrlich on Washington column, August 10, 1997

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of August 10, 1997 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. HATS OFF TO EASTERN TECH In May, I chaired a summit meeting of Maryland manufacturers and county executives throughout the Baltimore metropolitan region. We agreed that strengthening the partnership between the business and educational sectors is absolutely vital if Maryland is going to thrive and prosper into the 21st century. The goal behind such a partnership is obvious — to enable young people to enter a job market that clearly wants them, and is willing to pay them the highest wages. There are two keys to making such a partnership work. First, there must be better communication and coordination between educators and the business community. Second, more schools should adopt a “skills- oriented” curriculum which provides young people with the specific skills and talents that employers are seeking. Eastern Technical High School has been remarkably successful in meeting both these challenges. Located in Essex, Eastern Tech provides students with a 1990s-style education, preparing them for the rigors they will experience when entering the modem workforce. Eastern Tech is unique from other Baltimore County public high schools because the curriculum focuses equally on the skills needed for the work force and the preparation needed for the college classroom. Due to valuable corporate and college/university collaboration, students may concentrate in state of the art technology programs including allied health, computer