A North Carolina school district has been recognized as the top urban school district in the country. Charlotte-Mecklenburg won the award, given by a prominent and controversial foundation.
The Broad Foundation is one of the largest dedicated to public school reform. It runs an academy to train non-educators to become superintendents and places a high priority on market-based competition and test-based accountability.
Peter Gorman was the superintendent in Charlotte and is a Broad Academy graduate, as is Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata.
The annual Broad Prize recognizes the urban school district that the foundation feels best serves low-income students. Charlotte-Mecklenburg won the award this year after several years as a finalist. It comes with more than half-a-million dollars in scholarship money.