‘A Testament to Hard Work’
Aldine ISD Wins 2009 Broad Prize; Socorro ISD Named Finalist
Aldine ISD, where four out of five students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, won the 2009 Broad Prize for
Urban Education, the largest
education award in the
country, The Eli and Edythe
Broad Foundation announced
late last year. Socorro ISD
was named as one of the
finalists.
In related news, Socorro
ISD and Ysleta ISD were
among five national finalists
for the 2010 Broad Prize,
which will be announced in
October (see box, page 12).
Aldine ISD, which received
$1 million in scholarships for
the 2009 award, has shown
some of the most consistent
student achievement gains
nationally in the last decade
and has been recognized as
one of the top five most
improved urban American
school systems in four of the
last six years.
This marks the third time
in just eight years since The
Broad Prize was started in
2002 that a Texas district has
taken home the top honor.
Houston ISD won The Broad
Prize in 2002, and Brownsville
ISD took home the award in
2008.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined
philanthropist Eli Broad and
members of Congress on
Capitol Hill in Washington,
D.C., to announce the most
recent winner. Aldine ISD was
selected by a bipartisan jury of
eight prominent American
Photo courtesy of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Standing with Aldine ISD’s 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education are, from left, U.S. Representative
Gene Green, Aldine ISD Board member Rick Ogden, Superintendent Wanda Bamberg, Board
member Rose Avalos, Board member Alton Smith, Broad Foundation founder Eli Broad, Aldine ISD
Board member Merlin Griggs, Board President Viola M. Garcia, Board member Steve Mead, Board
member Marine Jones, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Priscilla Ridgway,
and Texas State Teachers Association representative Carolyn Milton.
leaders from government,
education, business, and civic
sectors, including three former
U.S. secretaries of education.
The $2 million Broad Prize
is an annual award that honors
the five large urban school
districts that demonstrate the
strongest student achievement
and improvement while
narrowing achievement gaps
between income and ethnic
groups. The money goes
directly to graduating high
school seniors for college
scholarships.
‘A Singular Focus’
“Aldine shows us that it’s
possible for a district facing
tough circumstances to get
excellent results,” said Duncan.
“We need to highlight the
success of Aldine and districts
like it so that others can follow
their examples and lift up all
students.”
As the winner of The
Broad Prize, Aldine ISD
received $1 million in college
scholarships for graduating
seniors this spring. The four
finalists—Socorro ISD,
Broward County Public
Schools in Southern Florida,
Gwinnett County Public
Schools outside Atlanta, and
the Long Beach Unified
School District in California—
each received $250,000 in
college scholarships. Long
Beach won the 2003 Broad
Prize, and this marked the
third year that the former
winner returned as a finalist.
Broward is a two-time finalist
for the award, while this was
Gwinnett’s and Socorro’s first
year in the running.
