District on Texas Border Wins Broad Prize for Urban Education

Hispanic Students in Brownsville Schools Outscore Texas Peers

The Brownsville, Texas, school district was named the winner of the 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education last week for its progress with an overwhelmingly poor student population.

The Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gives the award annually to a city school district that has made notable strides in improving achievement, especially in closing gaps between students of different racial and ethnic groups. Districts cannot apply or be nominated for the award; 100 urban districts are selected each year by the foundation for eligibility based on their demographics.

The 49,000-student Brownsville district won the honor for outperforming its peer Texas districts in overall mathematics and reading scores in 2007. Ninety-four percent of its students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and 43 percent are...