Restoring Hope to McDowell County
by Randi Weingarten
President, American Federation of Teachers
President, American Federation of Teachers
In America, a great public education is our primary opportunity agent for a better future. Yet as our economic struggles have reminded us, educational opportunity and economic prospects are inextricably linked, and in McDowell County, W.Va., as in many rural communities, the opportunities are exceedingly limited.
McDowell County, located on the southernmost fringe of West Virginia in what was once a thriving coal-mining community, is among the most disadvantaged areas in the United States. Poverty and unemployment are widespread, schools are struggling, health problems are pervasive, and hope is sorely tested. The severe terrain adds to the difficulties and isolation in McDowell, where steep mountains rise up from flood-plagued valleys and residents are cut off from adequate healthcare, social services, recreation, transportation and housing.
This is the backdrop for an unprecedented public-private partnership of close to 40 local, state and national groups that this week pledged to work together over the next several years to address the challenges confronting the people of McDowell County.
Called “Reconnecting McDowell,” this team effort is making education its centerpiece, and the American Federation of Teachers has been asked to take a leading role. The AFT’s West Virginia affiliate is the largest union in the state, and
