The winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education will be announced Tuesday, October 14, and the Long Beach Unified School District is among the five finalists vying for the $2 million purse. The winner will receive $1 million for college scholarships to be given to students, and the four runners-up will each receiver $250,000. This is the second time in three years that LBUSD is a finalist for the prize (you cannot be nominated two consecutive years). LBUSD won the award in 2003, and was a runner-up in 2005.
The announcement will be made at the New York Museum of Modern Art, after a panel of speakers that includes each superintendent from the nominated districts. The award is given to the district which exhibits the highest levels of performance and improvement in an urban environment. It is the highest national honor that a school district can receive. More than 350 leading education policy-makers contribute to the announcement, and two former U.S. Secretaries of Education will attend.
LBUSD is competing against Aldine Independent School District (Texas), Broward County Public Schools (Fla), Brownsville Independent School District (Texas), and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (Fla).
We will have the results as soon as they are announced next Tuesday. Cross your fingers!
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor