AN ACT ESTABLISHING A "STAR STUDENT" PILOT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM FOR CONNECTICUT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Within available appropriations, the Connecticut Technology Council, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the "Star Student Pilot Program", that is designed to match high school students who perform well in science and math with technology-based businesses in the state for technology-related paid internship positions. The pilot program shall be limited to not more than two hundred students selected from public or private high schools in the state. Each participant in the program shall receive at least one credit toward graduation from his or her high school and shall (1) be paid five dollars per hour by the business to which the participant is assigned, and (2) receive the equivalent of five dollars per hour in the form of a tuition reduction in such amount at any constituent unit of the state system of higher education, not to exceed the full amount of tuition for such constituent unit at the time of the reduction.

(b) Not later than August 1, 2008, the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Connecticut Technology Council and the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, shall establish written participation guidelines for the pilot program authorized under this section.

(c) Not later than December 31, 2009, the Connecticut Technology Council, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, on the pilot program authorized under this section to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce and education and to the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to workforce development.

Statement of Purpose:

To establish a pilot program for high school students for paid internships with technology-based businesses in the state.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]