FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR- 101-07 April 4, 2007 NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NAMED AMONG 2007 FINALISTS FOR $1 MILLION BROAD FOUNDATION PRIZE Third Consecutive Year New York City Named Finalist for Largest Education Award The Broad Foundation today announced that for the third consecutive year, New York City will be among the finalists for the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $1 million prize given to urban school districts that have made the greatest increases in student achievement. The Prize is the largest education award in the country given to a single school district. This year’s five finalists, chosen from among 100 urban school districts, also include Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL), Northside Independent School District (TX), Long Beach Unified School District (CA), and Bridgeport Public Schools (CT). New York City remains the only urban school district in the state to earn this national recognition. Nominations for the award are based on statistical analyses of student achievement data evaluated by an independent panel. “Our reforms are clearly paying off for New York City’s school children: math and reading scores are up, graduation rates are improving, and we’re beginning to close the shameful achievement gap,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We continue to improve a system that has failed generations of city students. While much work remains, we are pleased with this recognition that things are finally headed in the right direction.” According to the Broad Foundation press release, among the reasons in naming New York City as a finalist, Broad highlighted the following successes:
The Broad Foundation The Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by Edythe and Eli Broad, a renowned business leader who founded two Fortune 500 companies, SunAmerica Inc., and KB Home. Based in Los Angeles, The Broad Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve K-12 urban public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. MEDIA CONTACT: Stu Loeser/Dawn Walker (212) 788-2958 GENERAL CONTACT: Debra Wexler (Department of Education) (212) 374-5141 |
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