The Long Beach Unified School District was recognized Tuesday as one of the top urban school districts in the country, receiving $125,000 in scholarships as a finalist for the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education.
The $1 million Broad Prize is an annual award that honors large urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. The money goes directly to graduating seniors for college scholarships.
Long Beach Unified won The Broad Prize in 2003 and is the first former winner to return to the competition. Winners are ineligible for three years, making this year the first that Long Beach was in the running.
“Nothing is more important to the future of this country than giving young people the tools to succeed,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings before opening the envelope that revealed New York City was the 2007 Broad Prize winner. “With the help of strong, innovative leadership, Broad Prize school districts are proving that if we raise our expectations, our children will rise to the challenge.”
Long Beach and three other Broad Prize finalist districts will each receive $125,000 in college scholarships for 2008 graduating high school seniors. Long Beach will again be eligible next year for the 2008 Broad Prize.
“Long Beach hasn’t rested on its laurels,” said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. “The district has sustained a level of high performance that is both an example and motivator for struggling urban school districts nationwide.”
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation 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.
