A bipartisan House bill could bring more opportunities to local students.

The bill — headed by Reps. Aaron Bernstine, R-Butler, Kate Klunk, R-York, and Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia — would create a pilot grant program encouraging partnerships between schools and businesses.

“There's not really much convincing that needs done,” Bernstine said. “This has been something brought up by business owners and employers around Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties.”

The partnerships would provide students with work and on-the-job training within a field that could be their future career.

Bernstine said this would be a step away from standardized testing and other forms of one-size-fits-all teaching and learning.

“We've been handcuffing the districts and handcuffing the private sector,” he said.

Bernstine said there weren't any rules against these type of partnerships before. He said the grant program provides the incentive with too many restrictions.

He said that technical and light manufacturing fields have shown the most support of the program so far, but the legislation's flexibility should allow many different kinds of partnerships.

“Schools will be able to partner with a variety of different businesses,” Bernstine said. “The needs in Philadelphia are different from the needs of Slippery Rock.”

The Butler Vocational-Technical School already partners with many businesses in the surrounding community.

Kurt Speicher, executive director of the school, said this type of grant funding could foster new relationships with local businesses or bolster current partners. He said the trade industry could use this type of program.

“We have to be mindful that there will be more and more talk about these kinds of things as we realize there's a tremendous skills gap, not only in our area, but across the country,” Speicher said.

Speicher said he generally supports the measure, but he has one concern.

“The first thing we need to look at is where the money is coming from and where is it going,” he said. “As long as it's going to proper training, then we support it.”

For the students, these partnerships could jump-start their careers or make their future plans more tangible, Speicher said. He said businesses have an opportunity to not only assist with learning, but can also have their finger on the pulse of the latest recruits.

“There's always opportunities to put more students into work or into more partnerships,” Speicher said. “We're hoping things like this could bring these opportunities to businesses' attention.”