Corkin Cherubini

Last updated

Corkin Cherubini (born April 25, 1944) is an American educator, musician, and writer. He is best known for efforts to rectify civil rights abuses in the small southern school district where he was school superintendent. His efforts gained national recognition, spotlighting a problem in school districts, nationwide. [1] He received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 1996. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Corkin Cherubini's early life was spent in Portland, Oregon, and later in Worcester, MA. Most of junior high and high school was in southern New Jersey. He graduated from Vineland High School in 1962.

Cherubini went to Troy University in the fall of 1962 and graduated with concentrations in English Literature, history, and aesthetics in the arts in 1967. He completed work for a master's degree in Audiovisual Education at the University of Virginia and his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Auburn University. In 1986, he received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study William Shakespeare's Hamlet at Harvard University. [4]

Career

In 1992, Cherubini was elected school superintendent of the Calhoun County, Georgia, School District where he had taught for twenty-two years. [5]

As school superintendent, Cherubini was in a position to investigate the "racial tracking" of students from kindergarten through high school. He discovered that no reliable criteria were used for kindergarten placement, and that the composition of the two lower learning levels in kindergarten remained virtually unchanged throughout elementary and junior high school. This practice automatically insured that children in the lower tracks, primarily children of color, were destined for non-academic tracks in high school. [6]

Cherubini's initial plan was to balance the composition of classes, beginning in kindergarten. Each year, an additional grade level would feature a more balanced class composition. However, public outcry necessitated more stringent measures, and Cherubini turned to the Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights for help. [6]

In late 1994, the Office of Civil Rights and Miami Equity Associates, a branch of the Southeastern Desegregation Center financed by the federal government, concluded that neither test scores, grades, nor teacher evaluation were used for student placement—a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As a result, the four tier tracking model in Cherubini's system was abandoned. Funding from the United States Department of Education enabled the system to educate teachers so they might effectively teach a classroom of children with many levels of learning ability. [7] [8] Cherubini's fight reflected a national debate over tracking and the difficulties of changing that culture. [9] Cherubini's determination to see that all students in his school system had equal educational opportunity spotlighted a pervasive problem, not just in the South, but throughout America. Cherubini's efforts spawned nationwide change. [10]

Awards

In 1996, Cherubini received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He was the seventh awardee and the first local politician to receive the award. He was commended for his courage and leadership in working for quality education for children. [11]

Asked if he would pursue the same course of action or a safer course, Cherubini replied, "There is not one action I would change. As the chief advocate for children in my county, I carefully made each decision for the well-being and betterment of these children, and I would have to take a similar course though the consequences be many times as formidable." [12]

Cherubini retired in 1997. Since then, he has written and published two books, Gang Stalking: The Threat to Humanity (2014, ISBN   9781500422936) and Suzanne: Targeted for Death (2015). He has also written, performed, and produced two political protest musical CD's, Indigo After Rain (2008) and in 2009, Back to Boheme.

Related Research Articles

<i>JFK</i> (film) 1991 American thriller film directed by Oliver Stone

JFK is a 1991 American epic political thriller film written and directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who came to believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy and that Lee Harvey Oswald was a scapegoat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Albany is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany metropolitan area. The city's population was 68,089 in 2020.

<i>Profiles in Courage</i> Book by John F. Kennedy

Profiles in Courage is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. The book, authored by John F. Kennedy with Ted Sorensen as a ghostwriter, profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity as a result. It begins with a quotation from Edmund Burke on the courage of the English statesman Charles James Fox, in his 1783 "attack upon the tyranny of the East India Company" in the House of Commons, and focuses on mid-19th-century antebellum America and the efforts of senators to delay the American Civil War. Profiles in Courage was widely celebrated and became a bestseller. It includes a foreword by Allan Nevins.

Dr Tonea Stewart, also Tommie Stewart, is an American actress and university professor. She is the former dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Barnes</span> Governor of Georgia from 1999 to 2003

Roy Eugene Barnes is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governor of Georgia from 1999 to 2003. As of 2024, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Georgia.

VSA is an international organization on arts, education and disability, which was founded in 1974 by former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith, and is headquartered in Washington, DC. In 2011, VSA became the Department of VSA and Accessibility at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The purpose of VSA – which started out as Very Special Arts – is "to provide people of all ages living with disabilities the opportunity to learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts." A primary focus is on arts education opportunities for young people with disabilities and to "promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in the arts, education and culture around the world." Each year, people of all ages and abilities participate in VSA programs, which cover all artistic genres—music, dance, visual arts, theater and literary arts. This is accomplished through a network of affiliates in 52 countries and VSA state organizations across America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Baxley</span> American politician

Lucy Mae Bruner Baxley Smith was an American politician who served from 2003 to 2007 as the 28th lieutenant governor of Alabama and from 2008 to 2012 as president of the Alabama Public Service Commission. She was the first woman to hold the state's office of lieutenant governor. In 2006, she was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor. In 2008, Baxley was elected President of the Alabama Public Service Commission, and was the only Democrat to win statewide that year. Until Doug Jones's swearing in after winning a 2017 U.S. Senate special election, Baxley had been the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGXA</span> Fox/ABC affiliate in Macon, Georgia

WGXA is a television station in Macon, Georgia, United States, affiliated with Fox and ABC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in downtown Macon, and its transmitter is located on GA 87/US 23/US 129 ALT, along the Twiggs–Bibb county line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany State University</span> Public university in Albany, Georgia, U.S.

Albany State University is a public historically black university in Albany, Georgia. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become one university under the University System of Georgia (USG). Albany State University has two campuses in Albany and a satellite campus in Cordele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew College</span> Private college in Cuthbert, Georgia, US

Andrew College is a private liberal arts college in Cuthbert, Georgia. It is associated with The United Methodist Church and is the ninth-oldest college in Georgia. Andrew is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The college awards Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Music (AM), Associate of Science (AS) degrees, an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), as well as Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, and a Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education (BSEE). Additionally, students can earn a Certificate of Cancer Registry Management, Certificate in Church Music, and an on-line degree in Agribusiness and Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSWG</span> CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Valdosta, Georgia

WSWG is a television station in Valdosta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS, serving the Albany, Georgia, market. It is owned by Marquee Broadcasting alongside Cordele-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WSST-TV. WSWG's offices are located on Slappey Boulevard in Albany, and its transmitter is located in unincorporated Cook County, northeast of Adel, Georgia. Master control and some internal operations are based at WSST's studios on 7th Street South in Cordele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy</span> President of the United States from 1961 to 1963

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to as JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress prior to his presidency.

Chet Williamson is the author of nearly 20 books and over 100 short stories published in Esquire, The New Yorker, Playboy, and many other magazines and anthologies.

Rudolph Franklin "Rudy" Crew is an American educator, academic administrator, and former government employee who currently serves as President of Medgar Evers College. A lifelong educator and public school administrator, Crew served as Oregon's first Chief Education Officer in 2012 and 2013. Appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber, Crew oversaw the integrated public education system in Oregon from pre-kindergarten through college and career readiness.

Michael S. Meyer von Bremen, is an attorney and Democratic politician from the state of Georgia, United States. He resides in Albany, Georgia.

Derek Stingley Sr. is an American football coach. Prior to his coaching career, he had a nine-year playing career in the Arena Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calhoun County High School (Edison, Georgia)</span> School in Edison, Georgia, United States

Calhoun County High School is a secondary school in Edison, Georgia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Willis (politician)</span> American businessman and politician (1940–2015)

Noah Gerald Willis was an American businessman and politician who served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1978 to 1982, and 1986 to 2002, as a member of the Democratic Party. Willis also sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1984 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Slade Gragg</span> Educator, school founder, clubwoman, civic worker, church worker

Dr. Rosa Slade Gragg was an American activist and politician. She founded the first black vocational school in Detroit, Michigan; and was the advisor to three United States presidents. She was inducted in 1987 into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Lois Evans</span> American educator (1935–2020)

Eva Lois Allmon Evans was an American educator based in Lansing, Michigan, and the 24th international president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ Kennedy (ed.), Caroline; Edelman, Marian (2002). "Corkin Cherubini" . Profiles in Courage for Our Time. New York: Hyperion. pp.  151–152. ISBN   0-7868-6793-0.{{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  2. ↑ Slattery, Ryan (May 29, 1996). "JFK Courage Award Goes to Educator Who Spotted Racism". The Boston Globe. p. 22.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Georgia educator receives 'Profile in Courage' award - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) | HighBeam Research". www.highbeam.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  4. ↑ Pierce, David (May 25, 1986). "He'll Have a Steady Literary Diet This Summer". The Albany Herald. p. 12A.
  5. ↑ White, Betsy; Evans, Sherrell (December 11, 1994). "Saying 'No' to the Status Quo: Superintendent Blew the Whistle on His Own System". The Atlanta Constitution. (Newsbank Archive).
  6. 1 2 Silva, Mark (December 25, 1994). "County Rocked by Effort to End Pattern of Segregation".
  7. ↑ Johnston, Robert (December 14, 1994). "Effort To Do the Right Thing Upsets Ga. County". Education Week. p. 13.
  8. ↑ "Georgia Superintendent Battles a Subtle Racism". New York Times. February 14, 1995. p. 5A.
  9. ↑ Harrison, Eric; Stanley, Edith (December 20, 1994). "Segregation by Another Name". Los Angeles Times. p. A28.
  10. ↑ Vail, Kathleen (February 1995). "Steel Yourself--And Be a Hero". Executive Educator. National School Board Association: 19. ISSN   0161-9500. Eric database 425 772335.
  11. ↑ "Georgia Educator Wins 1996 Profile in Courage Award". The John F. Kennedy Library Newsletter: 2. Summer 1996.
  12. ↑ Cherubini, Corkin (1996). "Excerpts from Dr. Cherubini's Remarks". John F. Kennedy Library Newsletter: 8.

Additional Reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.