New from EdNC
The Editor’s Notes
Since 2019, EdNC has been reporting on the Summer Literacy Initiative. You can see all of our stories here.
It is not unusual for us to see funders identify gaps in services for students or even to imagine a way to fill the gap. But it is unusual to see the funder pilot the idea itself. In that sense, The Duke Endowment’s leadership of the initiative has been extraordinary.
The story that remains to be written is the story of Kristen Richardson-Frick, who has led this work at the endowment since its beginning. She has led with commitment, sticking with her belief that this could work for more than a decade — even through the pandemic. She has led with patience, as leadership changes locally and statewide meant she had to find ways to persist through transitions and change, including the state’s big policy shift to the science of reading. She has led with faith, finding the right partners at the right times to grow the concept.
She has led with love, for the students and rural communities the initiative serves.
She leads now with humility, as she entrusts the initiative to a cohort of philanthropic partners and The Rural Center.
SLI is a lesson in leadership. It’s a lesson in faith. It’s a lesson in service.
I am excited to watch the initiative take root in more and more communities across North Carolina.
The Senate will reconvene on July 29 to consider the governor’s vetoes. “Beyond veto overrides, the Senate is expected to consider a bill to implement President Trump’s school choice tax credit program,” says the press release.
DPI sent out this media advisory about the release of Title IV-B Funds, saying in part, “The U.S. Department of Education has released $35.8 million in Title IV-B funding for North Carolina’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This development allows the 99 after-school and summer programs across our state that served over 10,000 students and employed nearly 1,400 staff members last year to continue their operations.”
There is a hearing in the U.S. Senate tomorrow on choice and literacy.
On a sad note, there is a whole cohort of kids including me who grew up to be lawyers because “Fergie” inspired us, called us to do so. He will be missed, but his love, leadership, and legacy lives on.
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