To investigate the social context of education for low-income Southerners, a study concentrating on white Anglo-Saxon Protestants in a rural Southern mill village in general, and on 22 white 10th grade children and their parents in particular, used a combination of ethnographic techniques and standardized interview questions. Responses concerning 2 descriptive research questions, "What is the parents' orientation toward education and toward upward mobility through education?" and "What is the parents' orientation toward encouragement of education at home?" were gathered from 11 families, interviewed and observed in their homes; information about 11 other families came from informants. Parents responded positively to global questions about education and upward mobility through education, and about home encouragement of education, an expected "lip-service" response. However, answers to specific questions concerning expressed behaviors of these attitudes were mainly negative, as were those about leaving the village for further education or job improvement. It was inconceivable that any of the children would go to college or move away from family and community. Thus, cultural values are an impediment to education and upward mobility. Educators should know these underlying cultural reasons why rural children of such background do not aspire educationally or occupationally. (JD)