The National Education Association is awarding the Tom Joyner Foundation its 2006 Friend of Education Award for his commitment and dedication to quality public schools.
The association says the award is its highest, and recognizes a person or organization who has significantly contributed to the improvement of American public education.
NEA President Reg Weaver said Joyner “strikes a balance of entertaining and educating on his morning show, but that desire to inform resonates beyond the airwaves. He does this not because he has to, but because he cares.”
The Tom Joyner Foundation was established in 1998 to help students continue their education at historically black colleges and universities. The foundation has raised more than $35 million.
In January 2005, NEA and the Foundation began a partnership to help minority teachers become fully certified.
Previous recipients include former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; former NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins; U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley; Sens. Edward Kennedy and Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Christa McAuliffe.
NEA Honors Tom Joyner Foundation
NEA Honors Tom Joyner Foundation
