North Carolina – 1st Congress. Dist. Butterfield announces $78 million in Stimulus School Aid

U.S. Representative G. K. Butterfield

1st District of North Carolina
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For Release: Immediate

Date: April 1, 2009
Contact: Ken Willis
Phone: (202) 225-3101
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Butterfield announces $78 million in Stimulus School Aid

Washington, D.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield said schools in his district could see more than $78 million in federal stimulus funding.

“This is an immense investment in our students, teachers and schools at a time when they facing devastating cuts,” Butterfield said. “Ensuring that student have access to a world class education is not a luxury – it is a necessity.”

Butterfield, who represents all or parts of 23 counties in eastern North Carolina, said that stimulus includes $13.5 billion for Title I, Part A, (Title I) and another $13.5 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Today, the U.S. Department of Education provided district-by-district estimates for Title I funding, which totaled more than $37 million for Butterfield’s district. Additionally, the House Committee on Education and Labor has estimated that IDEA funding for Butterfield’s district could total more than $41 million. (Those estimates are provided below)

Half of the funding is expected to begin being distributed on April 1, 2009, and the second installment is expected later this fall.

Title I is the largest federal elementary and secondary education program. It authorizes federal aid to local schools for the education of disadvantaged students. The allocation formula primarily considers the number of children aged 5-17 in poor families and the state’s level of per pupil spending for public K-12 education.

IDEA provides funding to states for the education of children with disabilities. The allocation formula considers the number of children receiving services and a district’s relative poverty.

School District

Title 1  = Top Figure
IDEA = Bottom Figure

BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOLS
1,341,179
1,654,000

BERTIE COUNTY SCHOOLS
973,657
803,000

CRAVEN COUNTY SCHOOLS
2,658,416
3,430,000

EDENTON/CHOWAN SCHOOLS
485,610
549,000

EDGECOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS
1,071,113
1,646,000

GATES COUNTY SCHOOLS
234,437
429,000

GRANVILLE COUNTY SCHOOLS
1,059,381
1,852,000

GREENE COUNTY SCHOOLS
712,268
795,000

HALIFAX COUNTY SCHOOLS
2,092,616
1,527,000

HERTFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS
904,218
867,000

JONES COUNTY SCHOOLS
244,315
401,000

LENOIR COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2,109,208
2,300,000

MARTIN COUNTY SCHOOLS
967,543
967,000

NASH-ROCKY MOUNT SCHOOLS
3,977,388
4,314,000

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY SCHOOLS
868,121
855,000

PASQUOTANK COUNTY SCHOOLS
1,324,455
1,410,000

PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS
344,961
411,000

PITT COUNTY SCHOOLS
5,023,394
5,026,000

ROANOKE RAPIDS CITY SCHOOLS
523,832
633,000

VANCE COUNTY SCHOOLS
1,732,427
1,939,000

WARREN COUNTY SCHOOLS
801,215
742,000

WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOLS
716,450
561,000

WAYNE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
4,029,797
4,532,000

WELDON CITY SCHOOLS
559,121
338,000

WILSON COUNTY SCHOOLS
2,622,384
3,048,000

TOTALS
$37,377,507
$41,029,000

Rocky Mount NC – Funeral home director helped families recover

Chauncey C. Stokes Jr. was known for helping local black residents who were down on their luck, those hurting for rent money or a family burial.

Known fondly as “Bro Stokes,” the 79-year-old died Friday. Since the 1960s, he directed a funeral home that is legendary in the black community. (Rocky Mount Telegram)

DCN Inspirational Recognition – DCN recognizes Beverly May (deceased) for her friendship and her support for children

Beverly May (Deceased)

First recipient of the DCN Inspirational Recognition

Beverly and I worked together with a group called Partners in Education (P.I.E.). I met Beverly after attending a meeting at SouthWest Edgecombe High School Pinetops, NC in 1993 when the Student Body Government staged a walkout because a white coach had grabbed a black student around the neck in the hallway.

After meeting with Beverly about her organization, I joined because she was seeking black male role models to volunteer some time to work at the school helping out with tutoring black males and/or just helping the staff making copies and etc.

Katie Staton co-chair of P.I.E worked at Embarq (formerly Carolina Telephone) was able to get the phone company to donate funds and time to help with assisting in connecting computers. Carolina Telephone donated monies for a breakfast that was held at Abrams Barbecue in Pinetops. The volunteers received trophies for the volunteers.

As in many cases, when serious committed black folks who are making a difference, they have to deal with roadblocks. The principal at SouthWest Edgecombe invited me to the cornfield because I was challenging things that were going on at the school. The Rocky Mount NAACP where I was the 1st Vice President had asked for the Principal to resign however after a meeting was held by some safe Negroes and the Principal, the NAACP let the issue die. I was not invited to attend the meeting that was held.

Beverly and I was invited to Nash Central Middle School (Nash Rocky Mount Public Schools) in Nashville NC to do a presentation. The presentation went very well. But shortly after the presentation the Principal kicked us out of SouthWest.

Beverly had twin daughters at SouthWest Edgecombe at that time and they were very, very smart. One of them had asthma real bad and missed a lot of time out of school. But this child grades stayed at the top of her class.

Beverly loved her children and her entire family. Beverly had artificial legs. Although she had her share of medical conditions, she not only wanted what was best for her children in the Edgecombe County Public School System, but wanted what was best for all the children in the county.

Beverly was married to Reginald May and they had a computer in there home when very, very, few folks had one in the 90’s. Beverly allowed me to come over and to work on her computer as if I was one of her children.

Beverly went on home several years ago to be with the Angels. Shortly after her husband Reginald May joined her. I will always miss her however because of her I continue to do what I do. The twins are doing well and I call them from time to time to see how they are doing.

Curmilus Dancy II – Publisher

Johnston County – Lawyers, ex-clerk surrender in ticket-fixing case

Smithfield, N.C. — Four defense attorneys and a former court clerk surrendered Tuesday, a day after a Johnston County grand jury indicted them and three others on charges that they fixed drunken-driving and other traffic cases. (WRAL)

Winston Salem NC – Kalvin Smith Rally for Innocence, A Darryl Hunt Project

The Darryl Hunt Project and community of Winston-Salem will host a community rally to highlight the case of Kalvin Smith on Sat, April 4th from 11am until 3pm at the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church on MLK Blvd, Winston-Salem.  Mr. Smith has maintained his innocence while serving a sentence for the murder of Jill Marker, a manager at the now closed Winston-Salem Silk Plant Forest Store, in 1995.

Your attendance and/or support for Mr. Smith is greatly encouraged.

Winston-Salem Journal article on the rally below:

Published: March 31, 2009

Supporters of Kalvin Smith, the man imprisoned for the beating of Jill Marker in 1995, have scheduled a rally for Saturday.

The rally comes days before a scheduled court hearing for Don Williams, the detective who investigated Smith’s case.

Williams is fighting a City Council subpoena seeking to ask him questions about his work. The hearing is scheduled for next week. A specific date hasn’t been set, City Attorney Angela Carmon said today.

Pam Peoples-Joyner, the executive director of the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice, said the rally is meant to focus on Smith, not on the Williams hearing.

Smith asked for a new trial last year, alleging that witnesses against him were pressured by police and have since recanted. He also claimed that his trial attorney was ineffective. Judge Richard Doughton rejected his request after a weeklong hearing in January.

The questions the city council wants to ask Williams are from a citizens’ committee review of the investigation. On March 20, the review committee passed a resolution that said they found no credible evidence Smith was at the Silk Plant Forest store the night Marker was beaten. The committee also said it had no faith the police investigation of the case.

The rally is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church at 575 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Its organizers are Mothers for Justice, the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity and the Hunt Project.

Charmaine Fuller, Executive Director
Carolina Justice Policy Center
919-682-1149 office
919-943-5953 cell
Fuller@justicepolicycenter.org