Broad Prize for Urban Education Doubles to $2 Million; Largest U.S. Education Award Honors Most Improved School Districts, Money Goes to Students for Scholarships

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After six years of increased national attention on “Broad Prize” school districts – those urban school districts that have demonstrated the strongest growth in student achievement in America while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups – The Broad Prize for Urban Education has been doubled to $2 million by the board of governors of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, it was announced today.

“We are proud that in just six years, The Broad Prize has created a movement of reform and competition among America’s urban school districts”

Now viewed by many as the Nobel Prize of public education, The Broad Prize is the nation’s largest education award. The prize winnings go to graduating high school seniors in the winning school district and four finalists for college scholarships. With the doubling of The Broad Prize, the scholarship awarded to each student will also double.

With this new increase, the winner of the 2008 Broad Prize, which will be announced in New York City on Oct. 14, will now receive $1 million in college scholarships for graduating high school seniors. The four finalist school districts will each receive $250,000 in college scholarships – also twice as much as previously expected. The five finalists for the 2008 Broad Prize are:

• Aldine Independent School District, Texas
• Broward County Public Schools, Fla.
• Brownsville Public Schools, Texas
• Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.
• Miami-Dade County Public Schools

When it was started in 2002, The Broad Prize was designed to spotlight success in urban public education, which has been long criticized for dismal test scores and growing achievement gaps, by identifying school districts that were making the most progress in raising academic achievement, particularly for low-income and minority students. The Prize was also intended to showcase the “best practices” of those school districts, with the hopes that other urban districts around the country would follow suit, and to create competition among districts to win the nation’s top education prize.

“We are proud that in just six years, The Broad Prize has created a movement of reform and competition among America’s urban school districts,” said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. “Our board has decided to double the prize winnings to benefit students in these districts. By doubling The Broad Prize – one of the only programs in the country that awards scholarships to students for grade improvement during high school – these students will now have twice as much support to pay for college.”

Since The Broad Prize was first awarded in 2002, the following districts have won the top honor:

2007 - New York City Department of Education

2006 - Boston Public Schools

2005 - Norfolk Public Schools, Va.

2004 - Garden Grove Unified School District, Calif.

2003 - Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.

2002 - Houston Independent School District

Winning The Broad Prize has meant not only national attention and recognition for the most improved urban American school districts but also a boost to the morale of teachers, principals, students, parents and surrounding communities. Realtors in some of these cities have touted the win as a draw for prospective residents.

Fulfilling one of the goals of The Broad Prize – to showcase the best practices – these winners have hosted numerous visitors to their districts, sharing what has worked to improve student achievement. For example, the Long Beach Unified School District has hosted visitors from as far away as Romania and Japan to learn from their successful practices.

The most promising education reformers in the U.S. today are looking to Broad Prize districts for guidance. For example, District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has turned to Joel Klein, chancellor of the 2007 Broad Prize-winning New York City Department of Education for counsel in implementing reforms. Urban districts around the country such as the Dallas Independent School District have also begun to incorporate the goal of winning The Broad Prize into their district strategic plans.

Since 2002, The Broad Foundation has awarded $6 million in Broad Prize scholarships to more than 730 students in winning and finalist districts. With the increase this year, graduating high school seniors in the winning and finalist school districts will be eligible to receive $20,000 scholarships if they attend a four-year university ($5,000 a year) or $5,000 scholarships if they attend a two-year college or technical training ($2,500 a year).

To date, students in the following Broad Prize winning or finalist school districts have received Broad Prize scholarships:

School District	Year Broad Prize Finalist/Winner	Number of Scholarships
Aldine Independent School District, Texas	2004-2005	30
Atlanta Public Schools	2002	13
Boston Public Schools	2002-2006	119
Bridgeport Public Schools, Conn.	2006-2007	27
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.	2004	15
Garden Grove Unified School District, Calif.	2002-2004	101
Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Ky.	2003	14
Jersey City Public Schools, N.J.	2006	18
Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.	2002-2003, 2007	86
Houston Independent School District	2002	55
Miami-Dade County Public Schools	2006-2007	39
New York City Department of Education	2005-2007	103
Norfolk Public Schools, Va.	2003-2005	77
Northside Independent School District, Texas	2007	17
San Francisco Unified School District	2005	18
Total	2002-2007	732

Broad Prize scholars have a higher graduation rate than the general population of minority and low-income students who graduate within six years.

Each year, 100 of the largest school districts in the country that serve a significant percentage of low-income and minority students are eligible for The Broad Prize – there is no application or nomination process. The five finalists are chosen by a review board of more than 15 education experts that reviews academic performance data that has been collected and researched in-depth over the past year. The winner is then chosen by a jury of prominent individuals including former secretaries of education Rod Paige and Richard Riley, former governors John Engler of Michigan and Jim Hunt of North Carolina, and other leaders from business, education and public service. The jury reviews the performance data and reports from qualitative site visits.

For more information about The Broad Prize, please visit www.broadprize.org.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation (www.broadfoundation.org) is a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts. The Broad Foundation’s education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition.