WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8, 2022—The Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) recently announced that Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) is the recipient of its Dr. Michael Casserly Legacy Award for Educational Courage and Justice. Sponsored by Curriculum Associates, the award, named after the Council’s former executive director, is presented annually to a person who has made outstanding contributions in the field of K–12 urban education by taking courageous and passionate stances on the issues of educational justice and equity. Scott is the second person to receive this award; the first person was Michael Casserly himself.
Scott has served as a member of US House of Representatives since 1993 and currently serves as the chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, where he works to advance an agenda that improves equity and quality in education. As chairman, he helped craft the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which provided $122.8 billion under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, the single largest federal investment in K–12 education in American history. In 2015, he was one of the four primary authors of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for the first time in 13 years and replaced the No Child Left Behind Act.
As a former member of the Committee on the Judiciary, Scott was a leading advocate for reforming the nation’s criminal justice system. He has successfully worked to pass bipartisan legislation to reduce mandatory minimum sentences, reform the juvenile justice system, and require reporting and federal data collection of deaths that occur in police custody, jails, and prisons.
“Congressman Scott has been a champion of education equity and a tireless fighter for the needs of urban schoolchildren throughout his 15 terms as a member of Congress,” said Casserly. “He has worked closely with the Council to ensure federal funds were targeted to the nation’s highest-poverty urban school systems, and his commitment to that goal has never wavered. It is for those reasons that I am proud he has been chosen as a recipient of my namesake award and can think of no other person who is more deserving.”
“Rep. Scott has been a terrific friend of this organization, and his help in crafting the passage of the American Rescue Plan in 2021 provided more than $40 billion to urban school districts that are part of the Council,” said Council Executive Director Ray Hart. “In addition to his stellar record advocating for urban education, he has been a major champion of updating infrastructure for schools, particularly schools located in big cities. We are proud to call Congressman Scott a friend and look forward to continuing working with him as the nation’s urban educators improve student achievement and address the emotional, social, and mental health of our students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We are proud to support the Council in recognizing leaders who, like Dr. Casserly, have made noteworthy contributions to K–12 urban education,” said Woody Paik, executive vice president of Curriculum Associates. “Throughout his career, Rep. Scott has embodied the merits of this award by helping to provide opportunities for students to succeed in school.”
To learn more about the CGCS, visit CGCS.org. To learn more about Curriculum Associates, visit CurriculumAssociates.com.
About CGCS
It is the special mission of America’s urban public schools to educate the nation’s most diverse student body to the highest academic standards and prepare them to contribute to our democracy and global community. The Council brings together 77 of the nation’s largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to the improvement of public education for our nation’s urban public school children. See CGCS.org.
About Curriculum Associates
Founded in 1969, Curriculum Associates, LLC designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company’s products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students.
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