Interviews conducted in Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District sought answers for improving educational quality in the district, which has the highest dropout rate, the lowest holding power, and the lowest standardized test scores in Kentucky. Members of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development interviewed 155 people from 15 of the Fifth District's 27 counties, including 17 school superintendents, 3 school board members, 12 principals or other administrators, 27 teachers, 5 retired teachers, 26 business and professional people, 26 high school and college students, 33 parents, and 6 college administrators or professors. Several problem areas were identified: (1) home and school have low expectations for students; (2) poor communication between parents and school; (3) loss of community schools through consolidation; (4) inadequate teacher education programs; (5) destructive school politics; and (6) lack of funding, particularly local revenues. Those interviewed believed that the solutions to these problems lay in the creation of a Fifth District development and education organization which would bring schools, parents, and communities together to work toward the explicit goal of improving the opportunities for both education and economic development. (JHZ)