School & District Management

California District Awarded Urban Education Prize

By Marianne D. Hurst — October 01, 2003 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

After what they say was a long, hard struggle to improve student achievement, school leaders in the Long Beach Unified School District in California feel they can pause for a moment to enjoy a recent rush of success.

The 97,000-student district was named last week as the 2003 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

“It’s wonderful to be recognized,” said Richard Van Der Lann, the district’s information officer, who noted that community and city support have been vital. “We’ve all worked our hearts out.”

The Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation first awarded the prize last year in an attempt to increase confidence in public education. But the award program has recently drawn criticism because the first award went to the Houston Independent School District, which has been the focus of an intense controversy over its high school dropout data. (“Despite Disputed Data, Houston Backers Say District Merited Prize,” Sept. 24, 2003.)

Finalists are selected from more than 100 urban school districts nationwide, with 20 education leaders reviewing each district’s data. The national winner receives $500,000 in student scholarships.

This year’s finalists included the 62,800-student Boston Public Schools; the 50,000- student Garden Grove Unified School District in California; the 95,000-student Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky; and the 37,000-student Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia. Each finalist received $125,000 in student scholarships.

Among its other philanthropy, the Broad Foundation supports coverage of leadership issues in Education Week.

‘More With Less’

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Long Beach school district has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the nation. Students in the district speak 46 different languages.

District officials said establishing a stable educational system for such a varied enrollment can be challenging. The current economic troubles in California haven’t made it any easier.

The district had to cut nearly $40 million from its $840 million budget over the past year alone, forcing it to impose hiring freezes, limit staff travel, and place all discretionary programs on hold.

Despite steady enrollment growth and major cuts in state funding, the district has managed to avoid issuing pink slips for teacher positions, it has kept its pupil-teacher ratios in grades K-3 at 20-to-1, and its scores on state tests have shown steady improvement.

“We tapped the brake pedal when we saw leaner times coming,” Mr. Van Der Lann said last week. “We’re doing more with less.”

Related Tags:

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion Why Principals Need to Talk About the Israel-Hamas War With Our Teachers
What can we do when a difficult topic is brought up by students in classrooms? First, don’t leave teachers to handle it in isolation.
S. Kambar Khoshaba
5 min read
Stylized photo illustration of a teacher feeling pressured as she is questioned by her students.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Sometimes Principals Need to Make Big Changes. Here’s How to Get Them to Stick
School leaders need their community to take a leap of faith with them. But how do they build trust and conviction?
8 min read
Image of a leader reflecting on past and future.
akindo/DigitalVision Vectors
School & District Management A New Study Details Gender and Racial Disparities in the Superintendent's Office
Women and people of color are less likely than their white male counterparts to be appointed superintendent directly from a principal post.
6 min read
A conceptual image of a female being paid less than a male.
hyejin kang/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Late Arrivals, Steep Costs: Why Some Districts Ditch Third-Party Bus Companies
Districts are facing a host of transportation challenges. Some have addressed them by deciding to bring buses back in house.
6 min read
School buses parked in Helena, Mont., ahead of the beginning of the school year on Aug. 20, 2021.
Some districts are pulling back on decisions to outsource bus services in an effort to save money and improve service.
Iris Samuels/AP