{"id":3433,"date":"2023-02-06T16:11:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T21:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/education\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2023-06-12T16:36:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T20:36:35","slug":"dr-rex-fortune-remembered-for-commitment-to-serving-black-students-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/education\/2023\/02\/06\/dr-rex-fortune-remembered-for-commitment-to-serving-black-students-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Rex Fortune Remembered For Commitment To Serving Black Students, Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer<\/h4>\n

With a charter school system already bearing his name and a local elementary school set to follow suit this fall, a local education trailblazer had the good fortune to have received his proverbial flowers while he could appreciate them.<\/p>\n

Pioneering school superintendent Dr. Rex Fortune passed away on January 29, just four days after his 81st birthday. Condolences have flooded in from across the country. On the school system\u2019s Facebook page, Dr. Fortune was called a \u201cgiant among giants\u201d whose \u201cwork lives on through the countless educators that he mentored.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the messages have brought comfort to the family, but it was those that came from the littlest Fortune students that choked up Dr. Margaret Fortune, who visited one of the Fortune School campuses two days after her father\u2019s death. \u201cThe kids said \u2018I\u2019m sorry for your loss\u2019 and hugged my legs,\u201d she said, lovingly mimicking their tiny voices.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rex Fortune was more than a name on the wall. He was a tireless supporter of the charter school system and the students it served.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would come to games and band performances and pop into the schools and visit classrooms and talk to principals,\u201d Dr. Fortune said of her father. \u201cHe knew them all by name and would ask them the specifics. He kept up with what was going on and cared about the kids and the kids learned who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Rex Fortune was born in New Bern, North Carolina on January 25, 1942.\u00a0 He met the love of his life, Margaret, while in college. The two, students at neighboring HBCUs, met on a blind date; he was a student at North Carolina A&T and she at Bennett Women\u2019s College. They were student leaders on their respective campuses and activists in the wider community, fighting to integrate lunch counters and see education equality become a reality for all.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Fortune, also an educator, served as director of the Fortune School of Education when it was called Project Pipeline. The teacher credentialing program still works to increase the number of teachers of color entering the education workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation was something that we talked deeply about at the kitchen table,\u201d Dr. Margaret Fortune said. \u201cHe was very caring as a father; he encouraged us and pushed us to be our best and he was also fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside his education-related work, Dr. Rex Fortune was an avid reader and history buff. He was also a cyclist and up until recently, rode his bicycle along the American River Trail as much as 25 miles, several times a week.<\/p>\n

Dr. Fortune was a proud member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. In addition to graduating from North Carolina A&T, he also held a master\u2019s degree in education at UC Berkeley and a doctorate from Stanford University.<\/p>\n

Dr. Fortune co-founded the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators (CAASA) and served on the board of the Pacific Charter Institute until last week.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Rex Fortune (1942-2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDr. Rex Fortune has left a legacy of unapologetic advocacy and support for all students, particularly those that have been underserved by schools and school districts historically,\u201d said former CAASA president Dr. Ramona E. Bishop. \u201cAs we worked to rejuvenate the organization, I had an opportunity to meet him and from then on he was a trusted adviser as I ascended to the level of superintendent. I am sure my story is not unique as he was a mentor and friend to all of us. He will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Fortune\u2019s own credentials included teaching high school, being a school site administrator, serving as Associate Superintendent of Public Instruction with the California State Department of Education, Superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District and Superintendent of Center Unified School District. He \u201cretired\u201d in 2003.<\/p>\n

Dr. Fortune was also the CEO and president of Fortune & Associates, through which he and his son, Rex Fortune III wrote several books and produced videos aimed at helping educators and parents close the academic achievement gap. Their books included \u201cBridging the Achievement Gap\u201d and \u201cLeadership on Purpose: Promising Practices for African American and Hispanic Students.\u201d He released his latest book,\u00a0 \u201cAfrican American History Presentation: Video Lesson Plan\u201d in March 2022.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the elder Fortunes aided in the charter school\u2019s efforts to register area families to vote. Mrs. Fortune is also a part of the Black In Schools Coalition working to get Black students included as a part of the local control funding formula for public schools. That was her husband\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went to Shirley Weber with that idea years before she actually ran the bill,\u201d his daughter shared. \u201cHe was the one that figured out that you could constitutionally describe Black students, not by their race, but by their academic performance, because they\u2019re the lowest performing subgroup that\u2019s not already getting state funding and the children not recognized as high need students even though they\u2019re, they\u2019re the most in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Rex Fortune\u2019s life and legacy will be celebrated with a private family service followed by a public celebration of his life this\u00a0 spring. The event will be held at the Rex and Margaret Fortune Education Complex in Elk Grove. The Fortune School band, led by school parent and former Sly & The Family Stone musician Stefon DuBose, will perform at the public memorial service. Dr. Fortune\u2019s lifelong love of HBCU-style marching bands is immortalized in a 2021 children\u2019s book written by his oldest daughter, Gwen Fortune-Blakely.<\/p>\n

The honors continue in August, as Rex Fortune Elementary School opens in the Center Joint Unified School District. Dr. Fortune participated in the groundbreaking last year. <\/a>His family is glad he got to experience it and see some progress with his vision for better education outcomes in his lifetime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad he got to see the incredible expansion of Fortune School of Education. From serving nearly 70 school districts throughout the state of California to credentialing educators and also a whole public school system dedicated to closing the Black achievement gap,\u201d Dr. Margaret Fortune said. \u201cHe\u2019s got 2,200 kids throughout Sacramento and San Bernardino with his name on their chests,\u201d she said of school uniforms. \u201cI\u2019m proud that he saw that and participated in it in its fullness.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an HBCU alum, the elder Dr. Fortune was also fully invested in seeing his daughter work to bring such a campus to the West Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was able to see us reach the milestone of being recognized by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education as a degree-granting institution,\u201d she said. \u201cHe kept up with everything, was active, acknowledged what had happened from his original dream and lived a full life and was appreciative of the life he led.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Fortune is survived by his wife, Margaret S. Fortune; their three children Gwendolyn Fortune-Blakely, Rex Fortune III and\u00a0 Dr. Margaret Fortune; his brother Dr. Ron Fortune; and two grandchildren, Lenora and Evan Blakely.<\/p>\n

The post Dr. Rex Fortune Remembered For Commitment To Serving Black Students, Parents<\/a> appeared first on The Sacramento Observer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in <\/em>the Sacramento Observer<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sacramento Observer- With a charter school system already bearing his name and a local elementary school set to follow suit this fall, a local education trailblazer had the good fortune to have received his proverbial flowers while he could appreciate them. Pioneering school superintendent Dr. Rex Fortune passed away on January 29, just four days after his 81st birthday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1415,1674,25,1473,1419,2051,4987,1362,51,27,1491,31,462,1638,576,1519,3651,932,2581],"tags":[9916,9914,9915,258,9905,9900,5123,9917,2045,9930,9892,73,3029,9910,9925,9893,4546,3729,9926,2108,9908,3675,9932,9901,9904,1828,9920,9896,79,9913,9897,9902,3677,9931,9928,9923,532,3852,9895,9894,9898,9899,9906,9907,1394,9903,940,9919,9924,800,7164,9909,9927,9918,9922,753,1396,4004,9912,9911,9921,2998,2594,9929],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nnpanewswire","category-advocacy","category-america","category-california","category-charter-schools","category-children","category-college","category-college-and-careers","category-community","category-department-of-education","category-education","category-equity","category-featured","category-history","category-k-12-curriculum","category-k-12-education","category-k-12-public-schools","category-pathways","category-public-schools","category-sacramento-observer","tag-african-american-history-presentation-video-lesson-plan","tag-bridging-the-achievement-gap","tag-leadership-on-purpose-promising-practices-for-african-american-and-hispanic-students","tag-activists","tag-american-river-trail","tag-bennett-womens-college","tag-black-achievement-gap","tag-black-in-schools-coalition","tag-black-students","tag-bureau-of-private-postsecondary-education","tag-by-genoa-barrow","tag-california","tag-california-association-of-african-american-superintendents-and-administrators-caasa","tag-california-state-department-of-education","tag-center-joint-unified-school-district","tag-charter-school-system","tag-classrooms","tag-community","tag-dr-fortune-participated-in-the-groundbreaking-last-year","tag-dr-margaret-fortune","tag-dr-ramona-e-bishop","tag-dr-rex-fortune","tag-dr-rex-fortune-remembered-for-commitment-to-serving-black-students","tag-education-equality","tag-education-workforce","tag-educators","tag-elk-grove","tag-facebook","tag-featured","tag-fortune-associates","tag-fortune-school-campuses","tag-fortune-school-of-education","tag-gwen-fortune-blakely","tag-gwendolyn-fortune-blakely","tag-hbcu-alum","tag-hbcu-style-marching-bands","tag-hbcus","tag-high-school","tag-local-education-trailblazer","tag-local-elementary-school","tag-new-bern-north-carolina","tag-north-carolina-at","tag-omega-psi-phi-fraternity","tag-pacific-charter-institute","tag-parents","tag-project-pipeline","tag-public-schools","tag-rex-and-margaret-fortune-education-complex","tag-rex-fortune-elementary-school","tag-sacramento","tag-san-bernardino","tag-school-site-administrator","tag-school-uniforms","tag-shirley-weber","tag-sly-the-family-stone-musician-stefon-dubose","tag-stanford-university","tag-students","tag-superintendent","tag-superintendent-of-center-unified-school-district","tag-superintendent-of-the-inglewood-unified-school-district","tag-the-fortune-school-band","tag-the-sacramento-observer","tag-uc-berkeley","tag-west-coast"],"yoast_head":"\nDr. Rex Fortune Remembered For Commitment To Serving Black Students, Parents - NNPA Education Public Awareness Program<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nnpa.org\/education\/2023\/02\/06\/dr-rex-fortune-remembered-for-commitment-to-serving-black-students-parents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Rex Fortune Remembered For Commitment To Serving Black Students, Parents - NNPA Education Public Awareness Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sacramento Observer- With a charter school system already bearing his name and a local elementary school set to follow suit this fall, a local education trailblazer had the good fortune to have received his proverbial flowers while he could appreciate them. 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