Posted on September 17, 2009

Aldine Independent School District Awarded 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education

The Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has awarded the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the country, to the Aldine Independent School District in Texas.

Created in 2002 and doubled in value to $2 million last year, the annual prize honors large urban school districts that demonstrate outstanding performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing gaps for poor and minority pupils. Aldine will receive $1 million in college scholarships for seniors graduating next spring, while the four other finalists — Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Gwinnett County Public Schools, outside Atlanta; Long Beach Unified School District in California; and Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas — will each receive $250,000.

Aldine is a four-time finalist, while Long Beach is the 2003 Broad Prize winner and a five-time finalist. Broward County is a two-time finalist while Gwinnett County and Socorro are first-time finalists.

At Aldine, four out of five students qualify for free and reduced-priced school lunch. Yet the district outside Houston has shown some of the most consistent student achievement gains nationally in the past decade and has been recognized as one of the top five most improved urban American school systems in four of the past six years.

"Aldine has demonstrated that when an entire community and district work together with a singular focus on educating every child, they can succeed, even against the odds of poverty," said Broad Foundation founder Eli Broad. "Their success holds valuable lessons for other urban districts trying to do the same."