High school internships in jeopardy

The recommendation, part of a broader effort to balance the state's budget for next year, calls for eliminating funding for the so-called school-to-career program, which last year provided more than 14,700 high school students statewide with jobs at places such as State Street Corp., John Hancock Financial Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Boston Red Sox, and various technology firms, among thousands of others.

The internships, supporters say, provide high school students with a golden opportunity to explore areas of interest that may help them decide on a major for college. The jobs can also be crucial in helping persuade some students to stay in high school by showing them firsthand how classroom lessons and a college degree are relevant to jobs later in life.

With employers paying salaries of students, the cut is not expected to affect this summer's jobs but could start creating problems for placements during the school year. The state funding helps cover the critical costs of run ning the various programs across the state, including the salaries of dozens of staffers who work with more than 5,600 businesses to create the internships. They also provide students with professional training.

The Boston Private Industry Council, for instance, receives two-thirds of its funding from the state for its program, which serves more than 4,000 students and has 20 counselors at the city's high schools. The public-private partnership between the city's schools and the employer community has been placing students in internships since 1982, championed by national political leaders through the years as a model and an inspiration for other programs that have sprung up across the state.

"People assumed the program would be here forever - not so if this revenue stream goes away," said Neil Sullivan, industry council's executive director. "We understand, given the budget situation, the line item [covering the funding] needs to be trimmed back, but this cut would pull the program and others like it across the state up from the roots."

The Senate eliminated funding last month as it reacted to news of a projected $1.5 billion revenue shortfall - a budget crisis far more severe than what had confronted the House and the governor when they developed their proposals earlier this year. The House had called for a less drastic cut, and suggested funding the programs at $3.7 million, about $400,000 less than this year's amount. Governor Deval Patrick recommended a cut slightly deeper than that.

"It's a reflection of the fiscal realities and not the value of the program," said Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "It's a very worthwhile program."

A conference committee will hash out the difference.

Along with the school-to-career program, the state funding also supports other partnerships between schools and the business sector, particularly in preventing academically struggling students from dropping out.

The Private Industry Council has launched an aggressive letter-writing campaign to get the funding restored.

For Telma Talla, 17, of the South End, the opportunity to work last summer as an operating-room assistant at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston solidified her dreams of becoming a surgeon.

While the $8-an-hour job was mostly routine - making sure the operating room was well-stocked with gloves and other items - she persisted in urging her supervisors to let her observe a surgery. Eventually, she got her wish and witnessed heart surgery and brain surgery.

"Not many students have the opportunity or the courage to see those operations," said Talla, a Brighton High School senior who has wanted to be a surgeon since she was 6 years old, watching the Discovery Channel. "It must feel good giving someone a second chance to live again."

Toby Romer, headmaster at Brighton High, said any demise of the internship program could have a devastating effect on preparing students for college. Each fall, after students return from a summer internship, he said, he notices how they conduct themselves more professionally, from their dress to their talk.

"The young men and women just flourish before our eyes," Romer said. "The program makes them better students."

Loss of the program could represent a setback for a developing effort by state education and business leaders to instill students with more workplace skills. The leaders are concerned that too many students leave high school without the skills necessary to succeed in the job market, such as the ability to think critically, solve problems, communicate, or work in teams.

"These cuts would have a real impact on young people," said Mitchell Chester, the state's commissioner of elementary and secondary education.