Alexandria, VA - October 1, 2008 - The National School Boards Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education CUBE) has announced that the Brownsville Independent School District (Texas) has been selected as the 2008 winner for CUBE’s annual award of Urban School Board Excellence. This prestigious award honors urban school districts that demonstrate progress in educating children and act as role models for excellence in school board governance.
“It is a testament to strong school board leadership to see a district faced with barriers of language and poverty overcome challenges to excel in this way,” said Anne L. Bryant, executive director of NSBA. “We are proud to share their successes and hope that Brownsville’s success will set an example of excellence for other urban districts.”
The district’s Board of Trustees oversees a student population of about 48,000, which is 98 percent Hispanic and with more than 40 percent of students possessing limited English proficiency. Under the board’s leadership and focus on student performance, achievement gaps for Hispanic students in Brownsville and the state-wide average for white students have narrowed at all grade levels in math and in elementary and high school reading in the last four years. This achievement is reflected by an increase in higher education opportunities with the percentage of high school graduates attending a Texas college the next fall rising from 51 percent to 59 percent.
The winning district was announced on Sept. 27, 2008, during the annual CUBE conference in Las Vegas. Additionally, the Chula Vista Elementary School District in Calif. and the School District of Omaha in Neb. were named finalists for the award. Chula Vista was recognized because their board and superintendent work as an example of a strong governance team and have examined how to operate as a high functioning district with no budget increases in two years. Omaha’s Board solidified as a group in the face of a divided community. The board stayed focused on student achievement while battling the legislature to fund their schools.
Nominees are required to present evidence that demonstrates school district excellence in four core areas: school board governance, closing the gap, academic excellence, and community engagement. The finalists are then selected by a panel of distinguished judges based on materials submitted by the school district, and independent follow-up research.
For more information on the award, please visit http://www.nsba.org/cube. Recent winners include Houston Independent School District in Texas and Miami-Dade Public Schools in Florida. The winning district will receive recognition in CUBE programming and NSBA publications, including CUBE’s advocacy newsletter, the Urban Advocate.
The Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) was established in 1967 by the National School Boards Association as a national membership organization governed solely by urban school board members and dedicated to the needs and interests of urban school boards. CUBE member districts total more than 100 urban districts in more than 35 states and educate nearly 8 million students in more than 12,000 schools with a collective budget near $80 billion. CUBE helps urban school boards find solutions to challenges at the local level and seeks to improve their policy making effectiveness.
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association is a not-for profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.