Mass. Teens Rally For Jobs At State House

Hundreds of teenagers converged on Beacon Hill Thursday afternoon to urge lawmakers to keep funding for youth jobs in the budget.

The teens marched from Copley Square to the State House. There, they heard from Gov. Deval Patrick, who has proposed spending $8.4 million to fund youth jobs in the upcoming fiscal year — $400,000 more than this year.

The governor also urged the teens to put pressure on businesses, which supplied all of his summer jobs growing up.

"All those jobs — from the snow cone machine to the bank job and everything in between — were in the private sector, and that, the private sector has a role to play here in transforming the lives of these young people," he said.

The governor says it's up to the teens to let private businesses know they care about and want job opportunities.