U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has been awarded the 1988 “Jefferson Medal” by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
The medal, named for Thomas Jefferson, is given each year to a college graduate who has made “extraordinary contributions to American society.”
Dr. Koop, a pediatric surgeon who was surgeon-in-chief of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania before he was named surgeon general in 1981, is being honored for his achievements both as a physician and a public official.
Gary Quehl, president of case, is scheduled to present the award at a Washington ceremony next week.
Officials of the Jefferson County school district, Colorado’s largest, have hired a former state education commissioner to help them overcome a public-image problem.
Calvin Frazier, who retired as commissioner in 1987 and is now an educational consultant at the University of Denver, will receive $37.50 an hour for polling legislators and community leaders in the suburban-Denver area to find out their impressions of the district’s schools.
The district has been beset in recent months by bitter contract negotiations and a reduced budget. Teachers have called for the replacement of Superintendent John Peper, and a recent survey of pta members found widespread dissatisfaction with the superintendent and the school board.
“The board acknowledges that there are a number of underlying problems that need to be addressed,” said Kay Pride, a spokesman for the district.
Mr. Frazier was to report directly to the superintendent, Ms. Pride said.
