• Release ID: 09-021
• Release Date: 2/23/2009
• Contact: Brian Jones 240-777-7955
• From: Office of Mike Knapp

Councilmember Mike Knapp Unveils Bills To Create Scholarship, Teacher Programs

Programs to Work in Conjunction With Need for Stimulus; Would Create Innovative Financial Incentives for Teachers In Fields of Need and Those Whose Students Pass AP, IB

UMS Chancellor Kirwan, MC President Johnson, MCPS Superintendent Weast, USG Executive Director Stewart Edelstein Join Announcement

ROCKVILLE, Md., February 23, 2009—Montgomery County Councilmember Michael Knapp today at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville unveiled details of two innovative bills he will introduce before the Council that will provide college scholarships and invest in teacher training, consistent with the nation’s need for economic stimulus. Councilmember Knapp said these programs represent an investment in the true foundation of the economy: the workforce both now and in the future.

The teacher education and training programs addressed in one of the bills would provide grants to research universities in Montgomery County (which may include the nine universities housed at the Universities at Shady Grove campus) to offer to current middle- and high school science, math and technology teachers two-year, part-time master’s degree programs that focus on rigorous science and math content and pedagogy. The programs would provide incentives to train Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate IB (or pre-AP or pre-IB) instructors to teach advanced courses in science and mathematics in the form of $1,500 per year payments per teacher. Teachers also would receive $100 for each of their students who pass an AP or IB in math or science.

William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland System; Montgomery College President Brian Johnson; Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry Weast; Universities at Shady Grove Executive Director Stewart Edelstein; and Gigi Godwin of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce were among those who attended the announcement today.

One of the programs, which will be introduced before the County Council on Tuesday, Feb. 24, will be for students in programs leading to employment in “areas of need.” The other programs will invest in teacher training and education programs.

Both bills reflect the findings and recommendations of a national report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, which was commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, with the help of some of the nation’s most far-thinking scientists, engineers, academics and business leaders. The report was a driving factor behind many of the recommendations of the federal stimulus package approved last week by Congress.

“Signing the stimulus into effect is only the beginning of the process, not the end,” said Councilmember Knapp, who chairs the Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee and who is a member of the Education Committee. “The real work starts here at the local level. The federal government doesn’t hire teachers or teach students to be nurses or child care providers or engineers. We do.”

The area of needs scholarship would provide four-year scholarships for Montgomery County students who pursue a line of study that meets one of the top 10 high-demand occupations in the County. Those occupations would be determined by the Montgomery Department of Economic Development. After graduating, recipients must agree to work in Montgomery County, in their area of study, for at least four years. At full capacity, the program would provide scholarships for 50 students at each college grade level.

In a letter to Councilmember Knapp, former Lockheed Martin Inc. CEO and President Norman Augustine – who chaired the committee that produced the Rising Above the Gathering Storm report – praised the Knapp initiatives. “[The Committee] arrived at the unanimous conclusion that the single highest priority action our nation could take to assure jobs in the future was to produce more K-12 teachers with primary degrees in math and science,” wrote Augustine. “Your bill will be a valuable example in this regard.”

The teacher education and training programs would provide matching grants to regional (or state) one- to two-week summer institutes to update the skills and state-of-the-art knowledge of practicing teachers. The material covered would allow teachers to keep current with recent developments in science, math and technology, and allow for the exchange of best teaching practices.

“Last month I wrote to our State delegation urging the members to support efforts like this—initiatives that invest in people, not just bricks and mortar,” said Councilmember Knapp. “To that end, I know there is a lot of talk about stimulus funds being used only for ‘shovel ready’ projects. What is more shovel ready than the mind, the curiosity, of a student, or the enthusiasm of a teacher?”

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