Five school districts in the Sun Belt have been named as finalists for a prize recognizing their progress in raising student achievement.
The Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation last week said the contenders for the 2008 award are the school districts in Aldine, Texas; Broward County, Fla.; Brownsville, Texas; Long Beach, Calif.; and Miami-Dade County, Fla.
The Broad Prize for Urban Education will be announced Oct. 14. The winner will receive $500,000 for scholarships for graduating seniors; the other finalists each will receive $125,000 in scholarship money.
The foundation said in a news release that each of the districts educates significant numbers of Hispanic students, who are making “notable progress” in narrowing achievement gaps with their white peers.
