At the Council of the Great City Schools’ recent Legislative/Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) was named the recipient of the 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.”