As we've covered before, Reconnecting McDowell is a broad community effort including unions, corporations, community groups and local residents to help revitalize struggling McDowell County in West Virginia. The effort has led to many successes and life in McDowell is already improving. The latest success was a fundraising drive led by United Steelworkers (USW) members Karen Shipley and Heather Anderson that raised $5,000 to send kids to a 4-H camp.

The AFT has been a partner in helping revitalize McDowell County, W.Va., for more than a year now, and those efforts are paying major dividends for the local education system. On Wednesday, the West Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved a community schools plan for McDowell County Public Schools. In a separate vote, the state board also voted to return the county's schools to local control. The board had taken control of the schools in an attempt to save them from the poor conditions the county was experiencing.

In March 2012, AFT helped lead a public-private partnership to help struggling McDowell County, W.Va., and the participants were hopeful that things could be turned around economically and educationally. A year later, the Reconnecting McDowell project has begun to show that investment in communities can change people's lives.

In March 2012, the AFT helped lead a public-private partnership to help struggling McDowell County, W.Va., and the participants were hopeful that things could be turned around economically and educationally. A year later, the Reconnecting McDowell project has begun to show that investment in communities can change people's lives.