PSP wants families to have access to ‘private school-level education at a public school price’

The Permian Strategic Partnership is working on a plan to increase high-quality education in the Permian Basin. In an interview with Midland Times, PSP President and CEO Tracee Bentley shared findings of a report her group commissioned. She said the report shows that "by 2040, we will need an additional 190,000 workers in the Permian Basin in order to keep producing the energy that the country and the world is depending on the Permian Basin to produce.” 

According to Bentley, the jobs won't be filled without local improvements. “We would be hard pressed to sustain an additional 190,000 people because we don't have adequate access to the focus areas of PSP, one of those being high-quality public education.”

PSP has partnered with Midland’s Harmony Academy to address the need. Harmony Academy is a tuition-free public charter school focused on science, technology, engineering, and math for students in grades Pre-K through 5th grade. 

Bentley said PSP supports charter schools to help provide high-quality education. "By bringing in charter schools, we can demonstrate what high performance looks like and offer a rigorous curriculum to all families, regardless of socioeconomic status," she said. "We want families to have access to private school-level education at a public school price.”

The partnership with Harmony Academy brings “top-notch and best of class” charter schools to the Permian Basin, she said. "We are looking forward to future potential partnerships for additional Harmony campuses."

PSP is a coalition of 29 energy companies that work to ensure high-quality schools, safer roads, quality healthcare, affordable housing, and a trained workforce in the region.