INTRODUCTION

The Free GED Testing Campaign came at the right time for Cathy, a 40-year-old mother of three who dropped out of school during the turmoil of desegregation in Louisville. She had begun working on getting her GED diploma in 1982, but never finished. Concealing her lack of a high school diploma from her children, she was determined that they would not follow her path. Cathy wanted to be a good model for them, but she was ashamed. As she puts it, "I didn't want them to think I was pressuring them to go to school and finish, when [they could say] 'Hey, you didn't do it.'"

The campaign was a partnership among Jefferson County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education (JCPSAE), the local library, labor unions, KentuckianaWorks (the local Workforce Investment Board), and the Literacy Foundation. Its goal was to pay GED test fees to encourage as many adults as possible to take the test before it changed in January 2002. Cathy passed the test in 2001. Her children, she says, were "more excited than I was," and they pushed her to attend graduation. Accompanied by her family, she went to graduation—and now plans to go on to college. Cathy's story illustrates just one of the many community partnerships of all shapes, sizes, and purposes that flourish in Louisville.

The Jefferson County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education unit is responsible for adult education in the city, but programs are carried out through a web of partnerships throughout the community. In this network of partnerships, several efforts stand out. These include the Free GED Testing Campaign; the In-School GED program; Project ACHIEVE; Transition to Postsecondary Education; and the Workforce Education Initiative. All are described below.