Education Law Section Honors Jonathan Blumberg
The Education Law Section presented the Ann L. Majestic Distinguished Service Award to Jonathan A. Blumberg on Friday, April 8, during the section’s annual meeting in Raleigh. The award was presented by Kris Caudle, section chair.
Blumberg engages in education law, employment law and litigation with Tharrington Smith in Raleigh, which he joined in 1988 following a two-year clerkship for Judge Eugene Gordon of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1982) and UNC School of Law (1986).
“In receiving this recognition,” Blumberg said, “I would like to put my arms around my current and past school law colleagues within our law firm and in the educational section of the bar: you have taught me, supported me, laughed and cried with me, and I am so grateful for your wisdom and your dedication and indispensable service to our public schools.”
The award is especially meaningful to Blumberg, in part because he practiced with the late Ann Majestic, and in part because of his mother’s remarkable commitment to the education field.
“I am so grateful to be able to serve public schools,” Blumberg stated in the law firm’s press release. “For over 65 years, my mother has served in special education for public schools, and to this day, she continues to serve as a substitute. I tutored, coached, served as an instructional assistant and then years ago landed this opportunity to work at Tharrington Smith as a school law attorney.
“Tharrington Smith has afforded me the space and opportunity to be a part of public education, to serve school heroes, and to do so with truly talented, honest lawyers and staff, who check their egos at the door and collectively press for the best solutions to each challenge we face for our public school systems.”
Blumberg, the press release added, has served as school board attorney for Edgecombe, Lenoir and Orange counties, and currently serves as lead attorney for the Wake County Public School System, which is the largest school district in North Carolina.
The Distinguished Service Award was established in 1990 by the Education Law Section for outstanding leadership in the area of education law and renamed in 2014 in memory of Ann Majestic, former section chair and recipient of this award.
The award is given to an attorney who has a record of professional, community and personal achievement in the representation or affiliation with educational institutions, including public and private schools and colleges or universities, involvement with parents, teachers, faculty or administrators in the field of education law.
Previous recipients are:
1990 Edwin M. Speas Jr.
1991 John W. Hardy
1992 Robert E. Phay
1993 Laurie Mesibov
1994 George T. Rogister, Jr.
1995 Douglas S. Punger
1996 L. Wardlaw Lamar
1998 Ann L. Majestic
2003 Phillip R. Dixon Sr.
2004 Elizabeth C. Bunting
2005 Walter L. Currie
2006 John W. Gresham
2007 Thomas J. Ziko
2008 Allison Brown Schafer
2009 Dayton T. Cole
2010 Thomas M. Stern
2013 Fred Johnson
2015 David E. Broome Jr.
2016 Laura E. Crumpler
2017 Jill Wilson
2019 Janine Murphy
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.