Topeka ? A group of Johnson County legislators Monday started pushing a plan to allocate $2 million in state funds for a pilot program in which students would work on degrees at Johnson County Community College in informational technology or biosciences while in high school.

The JCCC “Go Pro Now” program seeks to provide students with good-paying jobs and technology employers with trained workers, supporters of Senate Bill 427 said.

“The vision of the program is simple,” said Jim Hinson, superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District. “Students graduate with their diploma, debt-free and with a great job.”

The Kansas Board of Regents said it supported the bill as long as the proposed appropriation “does not jeopardize funding” for the regents’ budget priorities.

Democrats on the Senate Ways and Means Committee questioned whether details of the proposal had been worked out.

Sens. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, and Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, asked who would pay for the tuition when the students graduated into community college, and whether internships, envisioned under the program, would be paid.

Joe Sopcich, president of JCCC, said many of the details for the program would have to be figured out “down the road.” He said there are nearly 40,000 job opportunities in information technology in the Kansas City area, and the various kinds of IT jobs pay from $34 per hour to $81 per hour.

State Sen. Jim Denning, R-Overland Park, said he believed the private companies, who would be hiring and training the students, would be paying for the tuition and internships.

There were also questions about whether high school graduation requirements would have to be altered to allow the students to take degree programs.

Under the program, a high school junior starts an internship with a local IT employer. That student will work in this capacity for a four-year period, at the end of which the student will have earned a high school diploma, associates’ degree and bachelor’s degree in IT.

The supporters of the bill are seeking $500,000 in state funds this year, and $1.5 million next year.