Tony Tye, Post-Gazette
	Linda Croushore

Thousands of jobs were lost when many of the Monongahela Valley steel mills closed in the early and mid-1980s. As families faced financial ruin, the towns they lived in lost millions of dollars in tax revenue, and school districts struggled to maintain the quality of education.

In 1987, Linda Croushore sat at her kitchen table with her three young children and a cat and the Mon Valley Education Consortium came to life.

"The challenge then was to create an organization to respond to the needs of beleaguered school districts and communities up and down the Monongahela River valley," said Croushore, the consortium's executive director.

"With a $37,000 annual budget, a bare-bones staff and a borrowed room at Penn State McKeesport, we laid down the blueprint for a Local Education Fund. ... We have sought a level playing field for all of our children and have raised money and resources in pursuit of that goal. We have never wavered from the belief that every child deserves a high-quality public education and a chance to succeed in life."

The annual budget now is nearly $2 million to serve 25 school districts in Allegheny, Washington, Fayette, Westmoreland and Greene counties.

The non-profit organization, based in McKeesport, serves students in many ways, including designing programs and initiatives such as student leadership conferences, career education programs and early childhood literacy programs. Croushore, 58, of White Oak, earned a bachelor's degree at Grove City College in 1968, and a master's in 1970 and doctorate in 1972, both in education at the University of Pittsburgh. She started her career as a teacher in the McKeesport Area School District and then became an administrator, helping to shape and lead the Model School project, something she called "cutting edge work.''

"I was 25 and an administrator in an unconventional school where risk-taking and creative thinking were encouraged and rewarded. Those experiences shaped my character and my life's work."

Croushore believes the most pressing problem facing public education today "is our nation's reluctance to truly embrace and uphold the importance of a high-quality education for every child.''