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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 1, 2019 11:38 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jared G. Solomon and Rep. Aaron Bernstine, Rep. Kate A. Klunk |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Schools to Workforce Pipeline Act |
| There is something exciting happening in Hanover, PA. The local Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce recognized that their members were having trouble filling open positions at Utz, Elsner Engineering, Snyder’s and other local businesses. So through the Chamber, they created an apprenticeship pipeline with the Hanover Public School District. Through their program, the businesses helped design a curriculum and invest in equipment at the Hanover Senior High School for students to learn trades and obtain recognized certifications. This is an amazing partnership. With the investments passed last session in workforce development, we should work to make this the model, not the exception. Therefore we propose to create a grant program whereby we incentivize new apprenticeships like this around the state. It will establish a pipeline for young people from high school into stable, well-paying jobs in their communities, and help employers fill vacancies that, left unfilled, hamper productivity and profitability. Like in Hanover, the new curriculum will be delivered in local high schools, to keep kids in their comfort zone, with their friends and community support networks. And it will encourage true working partnerships between local business and local schools, which makes the whole community stronger. The scourge of youth unemployment is as rampant in urban as in rural Pennsylvania, so grant dollars will be awarded in a geographically diverse manner to place CTE teachers in our schools. By expanding business-school partnerships to redesign vocational curricula in different parts of the state, we will encourage innovation in youth workforce development. |
Introduced as HB796