The year ahead: Educator James E. Ford
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The year ahead: hopes, dreams and expectations
The News & Observer asked a number of prominent people from around North Carolina to write short essays outlining their hopes, wishes and/or expectations for 2020 and the coming decade. These are their responses.
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James E. Ford is executive director of CREED (Center For Racial Equity in Education). He’s also a member of the North Carolina Board of Education and a former North Carolina Teacher of the Year.
Anyone who knows me from either my time as the North Carolina Teacher of the Year to the present is aware of my passion for educational equity. I will confess, talking about equity in public is often challenging. It is not always welcomed.
However, something positive is happening in North Carolina. 2019 was symbolic in many regards.
On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to launch the Center for Racial Equity in Education, dedicated to closing racialized opportunity gaps in North Carolina public schools. We released two reports in August that brought candor to discussions of why race matters to students. One, offering a historical analysis of the intersections of race and education in our state, and the other providing a contemporary look at how race shapes education access and outcomes.
Momentum around equity is building in our state. When I look at the first DRIVE (Developing a Representative & Inclusive Vision for Education) Summit convened by the Hunt Institute, the governor signing Executive Order No. 113 establishing a task force for diversifying the education workforce, and the release of the Leandro Report documenting the state’s progress on providing a sound basic education for all children, all of these point to the notion of equity.
In short, the atmosphere is shifting in North Carolina. These conversations were not being had even 18 months ago, and that gives me hope. Here’s to making the next decade one where we embrace the demographic shifts in our state and run hard toward equalizing opportunity for all.
2020 will be a year full of important news. For smart, reliable and timely coverage of the issues you care about, subscribe to The News & Observer at newsobserver.com/subscribe or subscribe to The Herald-Sun at heraldsun.com/subscribe.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The year ahead: Educator James E. Ford."
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