7027-0019 School-to-Career Connecting Activities

For school--to--career connecting activities; provided, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the board of elementary and secondary education, in cooperation with the executive office of labor and workforce development and the state workforce investment board, may establish and support a public--private partnership to link high school students with economic and learning opportunities on the job as part of the school--to--career transition program; provided further, that this program may include the award of matching grants to workforce investment boards or other local public--private partnerships involving local community job commitments and worksite learning opportunities for students; provided further, that the grants shall require at least a 200 per cent match in wages for the students from private sector participants; provided further, that the program shall include, but not be limited to, a provision that business leaders commit resources to pay salaries, to provide mentoring and instruction on the job and to work closely with teachers; provided further, that public funds shall pay for the costs of connecting schools and businesses to ensure that students serve productively on the job; provided further, that not less than $200,000 shall be expended to Girls Inc. for the operation of the SMART and Eureka programs at the Framingham, Holyoke, Lowell, Lynn, Pittsfield and Worcester chapters of Girls Inc.; and provided further, that the program shall partner with the YouthWorks program at the Commonwealth Corporation to develop appropriate connections between the 2 programs