Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Proudly Representing Maryland's 7th District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2006

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Devika Koppikar
(202) 225-4741 or (202) 225-4025
Trudy Perkins
(410) 685-9199 or (202) 225-4741
Mike Christianson
(410) 685-9199 or (202) 225-9876

Congressman Cummings Joins Bishop Thomas to Host Conference on Education in Baltimore City


Baltimore, MD -  Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07) will join Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr. of New Psalmist Baptist Church to host a conference focused on public education in Baltimore City. The Baltimore Leadership Alliance for Quality Education (BLAQE) Conference will bring together members of the entire Baltimore community to help develop strategies to ensure that all students in Baltimore City public schools graduate prepared for college, work and life.

The BLAQE Conference takes place on Saturday, October 14, 2006, from 9:00AM - 12:30PM at the Maryland Institute College of Art Brown Center, located at 1301 Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

The purpose of the Conference is to identify best practices that have produced positive results in Baltimore and around the country, and to begin to develop solutions to the problems that exist in our schools. All members of the Baltimore community are urged to come and share their insights and ideas as we work together to develop innovations that can be introduced in this school year.

The event will include presentations from Mr. Ed Burns, producer and writer for the award winning HBO series "The Wire," whose current season's focus is on urban schools; Dr. Robert Blum, the William H. Gates Sr. Chair of the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Mr. Jason Botel, Executive Director at the KIPP Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore; Mr. Mark Conrad, Principal of the Crossroads School in Baltimore; Ms. Yetty Goodin, Principal of Garrett Heights Elementary School in Baltimore; Dr. Annette Lareau, Sociology Professor at the University of Maryland and author of the prize-winning book Unequal Childhood: Race, Class, and Family Life; Dr. Millie Pierce, President and Executive Director of the Fund for Educational Excellence, an organization committed to improving educational opportunities and academic performance of urban students; Ms. Susan Tibbels, Director of New Song Academy in Baltimore; and Mr. Paul Vallas, the CEO of the School District of Philadelphia who rose to prominence as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.

Copies of the following presentations are available in .pdf format:

Dr. Robert Blum

Dr. Arnette Lareau

Dr. Millie Pierce

Dr. Yetty Lockett-Goodin

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