ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland has eight public high schools that offer students career training in tech along with the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree — tuition-free — while still in high school.
Citing what he says is the success of those eight “PTECH” schools, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says it’s time to remove the barriers to expanding the “Pathways in Technology Early College High School” program.
The governor has announced legislation that would eliminate the caps on the number of schools allowed to offer PTECH and it would also do away with the timeline that said no new schools could be added until 2022. Hogan said the legislature added the caps when the program was established three years ago.
“They wanted to test it out and say let’s see how it works until 2022 and they wanted to say each county can only have one,” Hogan said at a news conference on Thursday. “None of that makes any sense at this point, and I think they’ll agree.”
Hogan introduced the “PTECH Opportunity Act of 2019.” It would do away with the limits and allow more private sector partners to take part and allow each school system to introduce as many PTECH schools as they want.
Jamirah Benbow, a junior at the PTECH Carver school in Baltimore, said the experience has been great.
“PTECH has given me the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree while saving thousands of dollars,” Benbow said. “This is a chance to go college for free — and all we had to do was take the opportunity.”
Benbow said it changed the way students see their own education.
“My classmates and I have gotten used to the college experience,” Benbow said. “We know what it’s like to take hard classes and get help from our teachers and professors.”
Benbow will have an internship at IBM next summer. “I’ll have learned great skills without going into debt,” she said.
Under Hogan’s plan, there would be planning grants for three additional schools for a total of $300,000. Beyond that, Hogan says, he would seek funding for new PTECH schools in the supplemental budget. It’s his hope to have the programs in every county in the state.
