Education programs run by the Broward County, Fla., school district and the office of the mayor of Indianapolis have won prestigious awards from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Seven winners of the Innovations in American Government honor, which carries a prize of $100,000, were selected from more than 1,000 applicants and announced July 10. The charter school initiative of Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, a Democrat, won “for its commitment to accountability and its outstanding success,” according to a press release from the Harvard program. The autonomous charter schools, expected to number 16 this fall, are authorized and overseen by the mayor’s office. The Broward County Urban Academies program, which aims to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers for the 275,000-student district, also was honored. The awards are sponsored by the Kennedy School’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
A version of this article appeared in the July 26, 2006 edition of Education Week
