RALEIGH, NC (April 19, 2023)- The Public School Forum of North Carolina will honor the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation at the 2023 Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award Gala on Thursday, May 4 at the Angus Barn Pavilion in Raleigh. This annual event which began in 2000 celebrates public education in our state and recognizes leaders/organizations who have made outstanding contributions to public education. Currently over 40 legislators have accepted the invitation.
This year’s honoree, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, is a statewide, private, family foundation that has been a catalyst for positive change in North Carolina for more than 85 years. Since its inception, ZSR has invested more than $667 million to support the efforts of North Carolinians working to make our state a better place, including in the area of education.
Throughout the Foundation’s history, ZSR has supported some of North Carolina’s most important statewide initiatives in education, including:
- Support for the ongoing Leandro litigation for equitable early childhood and K-12 public school funding
- Numerous programs to bolster the recruitment and retention of teachers, particularly new teachers and teachers of color
- Start-up grants to help launch the Public School Forum of North Carolina and EdNC, among numerous other organizations
Today, ZSR supports efforts that build the public will to support, strengthen, and fund North Carolina’s public systems of education, as well as efforts to advance educational equity. The Public School Forum is proud to celebrate ZSR’s continued work with this year’s Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award.
The award is named in honor of the late Dr. Jay Robinson, one of our state’s most distinguished education leaders and the first president of the Public School Forum. His career spanned 50 years, beginning as a math teacher and basketball coach in Cabarrus County, becoming a school principal and later superintendent of schools in first Cabarrus and then Charlotte-Mecklenburg school systems. He served as vice president for public affairs and special projects for the University of North Carolina system and chaired the State Board of Education.
Individual tickets to attend and event sponsorships are still available at ncforum.org/jayrobinson.
###
About The Public School Forum of North Carolina
Since our founding in 1985 as a nonpartisan “think and do tank,” the Public School Forum of North Carolina has been a champion of better schools and one of the most trusted sources in the state for research and analysis on vital education issues. In order to provide meaningful action on our state’s most important public education issues, we bring together leaders from business, education and government to study education issues, develop ideas, and ultimately inform and shape education policy. We do this through research, policy work, innovative programs, advocacy, and continuing education for educators and policymakers. Follow us on social media at @theNCForum and visit our website at http://www.ncforum.org/
Leave a Reply