Sen. Lisa Wellman, D-Mercer Island, will serve on a new state task force responsible for recommending policies to increase the career and college readiness of public school students in Washington state.

Wellman, the chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, will serve on the new Work-Integrated Learning Advisory Committee responsible for supporting the state’s goal of increasing the number of students who pursue good-paying jobs after high school through career-ready education.

“We know that there are many family-wage jobs that are going unfilled throughout our state and I’m excited to have the opportunity to help connect our students to these exciting careers,” Wellman said.

The committee will be responsible for helping develop a framework for the development of successful work-integrated learning programs throughout the state. These could include internships, externships and apprenticeships with public and private sector employers.

The task force includes lawmakers, educators and representatives from the state’s community and technical colleges and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“We know students from every part of our state would benefit from more work-integrated learning opportunities,” Wellman said. “Our challenge will be to integrate these additional pathways to success into the existing K-12 system.”