The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox. Consider supporting our stories and becoming a member today. This story is part of Map to the Middle Class, a Hechinger Report series exploring the good middle-class jobs of the future and how schools are preparing young people for them.
BRUNI, Texas — The town of Bruni in southwest Texas is just a speck on the map in an area surrounded by miles of mesquite trees, cows and not much else. Since the oil wells slowed down, the biggest economic engines in this no-stoplight town are the county school district, which serves about kids, and a row of makeshift casinos run out of dilapidated houses lining the highway.
And the wind. It barrels across the plains to power glistening white turbines dotting the horizon whichever way you look. More turbines are being built next year — and when they come, the schools here will be ready for them. Ninety-nine percent of wind projects are in rural areas; over 70 percent of the installed capacity is installed in low-income counties. The students can even earn a certificate through the classes and go straight to work on the turbines.
Locals hope the program will make this little school district a national model. Related: Out of poverty, into the middle class. Politicians may hotly debate climate change and what to do about it, but the economy has come down clearly on one side.
Jobs in clean energy are growing faster than any jobs in the United States. The position requires technical school training. Industry experts say wind technicians often earn a lot more.
