South Texas school district gets $1 million prize

[sonias]

AAS 10/14/08
South Texas school district gets $1 million prize
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — One of the nation's poorest school districts, already tousled by a hurricane and nervously awaiting division by a fence being built along the U.S.-Mexican border, won a coveted $1 million prize Tuesday for making academic advances.

The Broad Prize for Urban Education is the nation's largest and will be divided among the district's graduating seniors for college scholarships.

"Brownsville is the best kept secret in America," said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, announcing the decision in New York. "In the face of stark poverty, Brownsville is outpacing other large urban districts nationwide because it is smartly focusing all resources on directly supporting students and teachers."

The Brownsville Independent School District serves nearly 50,000 students — 98 percent Hispanic and 43 percent learning English. Ninety-four percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, a common measure of poverty. Surrounding Cameron County had the highest poverty rate for a county of its size in the country at 34.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A little good news on Texas Schools.

:applause::toast::bounce:


The same day reports of the miserable bush program "leave no child a dime" continues to prove it's worthless. Texas failure rate up in 'No Child Left Behind'

Sonia

[tbyg52]

1. Hooray for some good news! nt