West Virginia

Challenge West Virginia

Challenge West Virginia describes itself as a statewide organization of parents, educators, and others working to keep open and improve small, local schools. The stated mission of the organization is to change state educational policy, especially as it relates to small schools, through sustained grassroots action, including a fellows program that trains volunteers in 22 rural counties and a quarterly education forum. The members of Challenge West Virginia believe that the closing of over one quarter of the state's small schools within the last decade has been detrimental to children, especially low-income children who live in rural areas. Challenge West Virginia is also a member of the Rural Equity Collaborative, which aims to improve the equity and adequacy of school finance systems in rural communities with high poverty rates.

Executive Director: Linda Martin
600 Shrewsbury St.
Charleston, WV 25301-1211
(304) 744-5916
LBM94@aol.com

Public Education Network Local Affiliates:

The Education Alliance

Founded in 1983, the Education Alliance describes itself as a statewide organization that strives to promote student success by involving community and business groups in West Virginia's public schools. The Alliance creates partnerships between public schools and businesses, but the purpose of these connections is not monetary. The Alliance brings businesspeople into classrooms in order to: work with students and educators on projects; give students and teachers a sense of the business world and the skills students need to prepare for it; introduce a business/industry unit into the curriculum; and give businesspeople an understanding of the educational system. The organization is also planning countywide business-education partnership meetings to facilitate and strengthen these relationships. The Alliance is also one of only five organizations in the country to participate in the Public Education Network's Teacher Quality Initiative.

President and CEO: Hazel K. Palmer
Program Manager (coordinator of community meetings): Randy Shillingburg
300 Capitol Street, 1100 Kanawha Valley Building
Charleston, WV 25301
Phone: (304) 342-7850 or (toll free) 1-866-31-4KIDS
Fax: (304) 342-0046
info@educationalliance.org or randyshillingburg@educationalliance.org