(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- A well-respected state legislator and a community-based achievement gap committee are the recipients of the inaugural Dr. Samuel Robinson Award, presented today by the Kentucky Board of Education at its meeting in Frankfort.
Sen. Gerald A. Neal of Louisville, one of the state's longest-serving senators, and the One Community, One Voice Achievement and Closing the Gap Community Committee of Fayette County are the first recipients of the award.
To honor retiring board member Samuel Robinson and to celebrate the Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954, the Kentucky Board of Education established the Dr. Samuel Robinson Award. The annual award will be conferred on an individual or organization in Kentucky for demonstrating outstanding commitment, service and leadership in promoting opportunities to learn at high levels for all Kentucky students.
Three of Dr. Robinson's former colleagues on the board -- Joe Kelly of Georgetown, Deborah Morrow of Madisonville and Jane Adams-Venters of Somerset -- served as the selection committee for the first recipients.
In its selection letter, the committee noted that Sen. Neal has a history of supporting quality education at all levels.
"His timely entry into the General Assembly in 1989 was greeted with the legislative debate on the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which, among other aspects, stresses that all children, regardless of race, economic background or social status, could learn at high levels and should be given the opportunity to do so. Since that time, Senator Neal has been one of the legislature's most tireless advocates for educational equality throughout the Commonwealth."
Sen. Neal is a graduate of Kentucky State University and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and has pursued graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He is a practicing attorney and has served as president of the Kentucky Bar Association. Sen. Neal also has served in positions with the National Bar Association, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the National Black Caucus States Institute, for which he was the founding chair.
The One Community, One Voice Achievement and Closing the Gap Community Committee was established in 2002 by the Fayette County Board of Education to support and enhance efforts to close the achievement gap among all students.
The award committee noted that the Fayette County organization is an evolving entity that brings together individuals, groups and organizations to help children escape ignorance and illiteracy.
"Upon its establishment, the 15-member committee selected as its mission to develop a World Class System based on sound research and the review of programs that had a proven track record for closing the achievement gap and improving achievement for all students. In 2003, the committee released its report … The report contains over 90 strategies to close the achievement gap and improve achievement for all students."
Award committee member Joe Kelly said that the two recipients exemplify the determination and leadership shown by Dr. Robinson.
"Dr. Robinson has been a tireless, tenacious advocate for quality education for all young people," Kelly said. "While he has set a high standard, we believe Sen. Gerald Neal and the One Community, One Voice committee are more than worthy of an award bearing Dr. Robinson's name."
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