This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, and Daily Yonder. Sign up for their newsletters, and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.
Kiara Guley wants to be a cosmetologist when she graduates from high school next year. But after taking a training program at the public school in this rural town, the 17-year-old has a Plan B: Become a prison guard.
Hundreds of high schools across Texas offer classes to prepare students for careers in law enforcement, including corrections. This career-training program is the biggest of its kind in the country, enrolling almost 162,000 students in the school year that just ended.
