Brownsville (Texas) district wins $1 million Broad Prize
The Brownsville (Texas) Independent School District has won the 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the nation awarded to the most improved urban school district. The Brownsville district will receive $1million in college scholarships for graduating seniors next spring. The four finalists—Aldine (Texas) Independent School District; Broward County (Fla.) Public Schools; Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District and Miami-Dade County (Fla.) Public Schools—will each receive $250,000 in college scholarships. Brownsville, at the southern-most tip of Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border, serves one of the poorest urban populations in America—with 94 percent of its students qualifying for free and reduced-priced school lunch.