Attending the Broad Prize ceremony were: Mary Brown, California School Employees Association (union representing non-teaching employees) Chapter 2 president; Virginia Torres, Teachers Association of Long Beach 1st Vice President; Jon Meyer, Board of Education member; LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser; Eli Broad, founder of Broad Prize; Arne Duncan, United States Secretary of Education; Beverly O’Neill, former Long Beach mayor; Rep. Laura Richardson (CA— 37th District); Gwen Mathews, assistant superintendent; Felton Williams, Board of Education vice president.
For a record-tying fifth time, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) was honored among America’s top urban school districts Wednesday during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
LBUSD was recognized as one of five finalists for the national Broad Prize for Urban Education. As a finalist, LBUSD receives $250,000 in college scholarships for local students. The Aldine Independent School District outside Houston won the top prize of $1 million in scholarships.
Long Beach won the award in 2003 and is a five-time finalist. The latest $250,000 award brings the total amount of Broad Scholarships in Long Beach to nearly $1.4 million. Only Boston Public Schools shares this five-year track record of excellence. The Broad Prize honors urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in achievement for all students.
“Long Beach continues to be America’s crown jewel of urban school districts, outperforming other urban districts year after year with its steady gains,” philanthropist Eli Broad, founder of the prize, said in a written statement. “We look forward to sharing Long Beach’s ongoing best practices with school districts across the nation so millions more students benefit from the smart efforts that have arisen there.”
Long Beach earned the finalist honor after national education experts sifted through thousands of pieces of data on student performance. Among the reasons Long Beach was selected is that its African-American, Latino and low-income students achieved higher proficiency rates than their counterparts statewide in reading and math, and because the district continued to narrow achievement gaps that remain prevalent in many other school districts nationwide. Long Beach also saw greater participation of minority students taking Advanced Placement exams and the SATs.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the finalists at the U.S. Capitol, where LBUSD Superintendent of Schools Christopher J. Steinhauser participated in the ceremony.
“Being a five-time Broad Prize finalist confirms that the Long Beach community still believes in public education,” Steinhauser said in a written release. “To be in the running again for this award is a testament to our heroic teachers, tireless support staff, administrators, parents, our 9000 volunteers, our more than 1100 business and community partners, our school board, our colleagues in higher education, civic leaders, service clubs and philanthropic foundations such as The Broad Foundation, insightful news media, local clergy, realtors, retirees, and many others who share our commitment to kids and schools,” Steinhauser said. “To all of them, we say thank you.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the audience, saying “this is a great day for public schools and for celebrating your success.” In the audience were several members of Congress along with more than 300 of the nation’s leading educators and policy makers. Among them were members of LBUSD’s school board.
“It’s a proud day for the Long Beach Unified School District,” LBUSD Board of Education President Mary Stanton said in a written release. “For Americans, education has always been the primary means for obtaining equal opportunity. The Broad Prize recognizes our efforts to give all children an equal chance to succeed, no matter what obstacles they may face.”
37th District Congresswoman Laura Richardson was among legislators present at the ceremony. “Long Beach, in particular, demonstrated, by once again being recognized by this prestigious organization, what we already know— that this is a district of teachers, parents and administration who are second to none in improving the lives of students by providing a quality education, despite the challenges they face in their homes and often their communities as well,” she said. “And, as Broad Foundation founder Eli Broad imparted to me, LBUSD is simply the best urban school district in the state of California.”
The other finalists were school districts in Broward County, Fla.; Gwinnett County, Ga.; and Socorro, Texas.
More Information
www.broadfoundation.org
