Anywhere "North of 60" this is pretty true. In the southern coalfields, not so much. I grew up in Charleston and received a fantastic education in the public school system. Most of my classmates who applied themselves went on to become well respected in their various fields. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer programmers, etc. US Route 60 (and now, I-64 more or less) divides the state into the northern and southern fields respectively. Generally speaking, the standard of living is better north of 60 than south of it.
Back in the heyday of mining, even the schools down in the southern part of the state did well and produced some fine folks (Homer Hickam for example) but the steady decline of mining from the 1950s onward meant fewer jobs, fewer families, and thus, fewer kids which created a consolidation boom in the 80s that really hurt the school systems down there. Despite living in the area here for nearly 15 years, I have yet to see the kids here have any great success that kids in WV couldn't achieve. I actually think the smaller schools back home are superior, but that's just me.
