2002
RODERICK R. PAIGE
U.S. Secretary of Education, 2001-2005
THE BROAD PRIZE FOR URBAN EDUCATION
When I became superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in 1994, the crisis of “inner-city schools” was already a hot topic. There was a lot of talk in the media about low test scores, high dropout rates, and conflict in the classroom—all were regarded as unchanging characteristics of city schools. Personally, I found that assumption offensive and unfair. I believed that, with the right resources and support, any public school system could overcome these challenges.
Eight years later, while I was serving as U.S. Secretary of Education, Houston won the inaugural Broad Prize for Urban Education. HISD won again in 2013. My former colleagues and I were incredibly proud.
The goal of The Broad Prize was to share what was working in urban public schools rather than what wasn’t working. The prize showcased the public school systems demonstrating the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement, especially among low-income students and students of color. I thought the prize was so important because it gave respect and motivation to educators who were making a change, and who were rarely recognized for their work. It is unfortunate that The Broad Prize has ended, but the reason for that is a telling one: the prize’s selection jury, on which I once served, felt that too few districts were meeting the bar for notably raising academic achievement for underserved students.
Unfortunately, that’s still true today. We’ve lost the collective commitment to improving public education we once had. In my six decades of work in the field, I’ve seen what happens when our country is committed to improving educational opportunities for all students. We need to come together again now and reactivate that sense of obligation and urgency.
Since my early days as a football coach, I’ve known the importance of teamwork. Though individually you can have different ideas, the overall direction and goals have to be shared or you’re not going to accomplish much. I hope our country can get back to that unrelenting spirit of cooperation. It’s the only way to effect change for our public schools.