School & District Management

Broad Announces Four Finalists for $1 Million Prize

By Christina A. Samuels — April 05, 2011 1 min read
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The Broward County and Miami-Dade school districts in Florida, Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district in North Carolina and Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas are the four finalists this year for the Broad Prize in Urban Education.

All four school systems have been previous finalists for the prize, which is intended to recognize districts that demonstrate improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps separating poor students and minority students from higher-achieving, more-advantaged peers.

The winner will be announced Sept. 20., and will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for seniors graduating in 2012. The remaining three districts will each receive $150,000 in scholarships. The Broad Foundation recently changed the award amount and criteria for the program.

Seventy-five urban districts automatically qualified for the award based on their demographics, population, urban location and socioeconomic status. A panel narrowed that group to the four finalists, and a jury of nationally prominent educators and business leaders will choose the winner.

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.