Win $500G for Scholars
City Schools Most Improved in U.S.

By RICHARD STEIER

The city school system last week won the Broad Prize for Urban Education for having the nation's most improved school district, an award that includes $500,000 to be used for college scholarships.

DENNIS WALCOTT: Earns Mayor's praise.

Mayor Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis Walcott went to Washington, D.C. to accept the award, joined by United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators head Ernest Logan.

Third Time's the Charm

New York prevailed over four other districts chosen as finalists, including the school systems in Bridgeport and Miami, with 14 prominent educators on the panel that made the selection. The city system was a finalist in the two previous years as well.

High school seniors who are graduating during this school year are eligible to apply for the scholarship money, with $10,000 awards going to those who will attend four-year colleges and $2,500 available to those enrolling in two-year colleges.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: 'Teachers should be proud.'

Back in the city following the ceremony, Mr. Bloomberg told reporters, "Joel Klein and Dennis Walcott are the real stars. Our students are truly beginning to realize their potential. Our black and Hispanic students are leading the way in closing the intolerable achievement gap."

'Teachers Be Proud'

Ms. Weingarten issued a statement saying that "Teachers should be proud of the integral role they played in helping the city win this honor because, at the end of the day, the system's success depends on what takes place in the classroom between Teachers and their students."

She added, "Now we must build on this by strengthening the Principal-Teacher-parent partnership that is necessary for our students' continued academic achievement. Despite our differences about how best to serve our 1.1 million students, the Mayor and Governor and the City Council and State Legislature deserve credit for providing us with the resources to fortify a system that had been destabilized by neglect."

That system recently got a significant infusion of new funding, much of it from the state, as the result of the implementation of a new funding formula arising from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case ruling by the state Court of Appeals.

CFE Executive Director Geri D. Palast said the Broad Prize amounted to "high praise and serves as motivation to continue to implement ground-breaking reforms, to further improve academic achievement and provide every student with the right to a sound basic education."

But, she noted in a statement, "There is still much work to be done, and the new state funding and reform law brings more resources, accountability and public engagement to the Department of Education to add to this momentum."