CLEVELAND, Oct. 19 – School board member Felton Williams of California’s Long Beach Unified School District tonight received recognition as the 2017 Urban Educator of the Year at the Council of the Great City Schools’ 61^st Annual Fall Conference here.

Eleven school board members from big-city school districts competed for the nation’s highest honor in urban education leadership, recognizing in alternating years an outstanding superintendent and school board member from 69 of the largest urban public-school systems in the country. 

Urban school leaders applauded Williams during the Council’s 28^th Annual “Urban Educator of the Year” award banquet, where he received the prestigious Green-Garner Award by his peers.

Sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Council, Aramark K-12 Education and Scholastic, Inc, the top prize is presented each year in memory of Richard R. Green, the first African American chancellor of the New York City school system, and businessman Edward Garner, who served on the Denver school board.  

Williams has been on the Long Beach Board of Education for more than 13 years, serving multiple terms as president and vice president of the 75,000-student school system’s policymaking body.  He has led efforts to improve student academic performance, including the planning of the district’s Academic and Career Success Initiative.  He developed a program to increase the number of students of color pursuing Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams, and recommended adoption of an ethnic studies program in partnership with California State University, Long Beach.

The former college dean has also contributed to improving urban education nationally.  He is the immediate past chair of the Council of the Great City Schools’ Board of Directors.

“Felton Williams has made substantial contributions to urban public education at both the local and national levels,” says Council Executive Director Michael Casserly.  “His passion for equity and excellence has had a profound effect on how all of us serve our urban students.  There could be no one more deserving.” 

As the recipient of the 2017 Green-Garner Award, Williams receives a $10,000 college scholarship to present to a student.

###