Marcellus Shale gas boom has uneven results for schools

For the past five years, Pennsylvania residents have been regaled with predictions of new-found wealth that the Marcellus Shale gas boom would produce, and for some individuals these predictions have become reality. For the 49 career and technology centers (CTCs) and 309 K-12 school districts within the Marcellus footprint, however, the outcomes have been more uneven. Kai Schafft , associate professor of education, along with colleagues in rural sociology, conducted a survey of school district administrators in all the public school districts in the Marcellus region, and conducted follow-up group s in Pennsylvania's Northern Tier - an area among the most heavily affected by Marcellus drilling. The study, "Educational Administrator Perspectives on Boomtown Impacts within Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region" will be published in an upcoming issue of Society & Natural Resources. "CTCs are booming. They've gotten lots of attention from the industry, and from Pennsylvania students and residents interested in retooling their skills to match the requirements of the gas industry," Schafft stated. However, this work revealed that while the development of Marcellus Shale has significantly changed the focus and activity of CTCs, shale gas development hasn't necessarily resulted in benefits for Pennsylvania school districts.