October 7, 2002

The Houston Independent School District will receive $500,000 in college scholarships for its students because of the generosity of a California philanthropist, Eli Broad.

The Broad Foundation founder Eli Broad, chairman and former chief executive officer of SunAmerica Inc., announced Wednesday that the Houston Independent School District was the winner of the first annual Broad Prize for Urban Education. Also on hand was United States Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige. Secretary Paige served as Houston's superintendent of schools before joining the Department of Education last year.

The prize established this year, the largest in public education, honors urban school districts that improve student test scores while closing achievement gaps between white and minority students, as well as between high and low-income students.

The other four finalist school districts were Atlanta; Boston; Garden Grove, California; and Long Beach, California and each will receive $125,000.

At the 70th Annual Conference of the Conference of Mayors in Madison the Broad Foundation announced a joint partnership with the Conference.