Uplift, KIPP, Winfree, Cosmos and American CAN are among Texas charter school systems with schools in Dallas that are eligible for the first Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools, which was announced today. The charter prize is similar to The Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes stellar traditional public school systems. Charter schools are public schools run by private organizations.

The winner of the new prize will be announced in June.

The award will recognize the charter management system that is found to have the most outstanding performance. The winning organization will receive $250,000 for college readiness programs while its practices and policies will be shared with others as a demonstration of what works in charter schools.

Charter organizations cannot be nominated for the award but are eligible if they have been operating a minimum of five schools for at least four years and serve sizeable percentages of urban, poor and minority students. The eligible Texas organizations are:

-- America CAN, which operates six CAN academies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that aim to help students who dropped out or couldn't attend regular public school for various reasons, including the need to work to support their families.

-- Cosmos Foundation Inc., which operates the Harmony schools with at least eight schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

-- KIPP Foundation, which started in Houston and has spread across the country. It has one school in Dallas with plans to expand to 10 schools.

-- School of Excellence in Education, which operates schools in San Antonio

-- Uplift Education, which opened North Hills Preparatory in Irving 14 years ago and has 20 schools in the Dallas area.

-- Winfree Academy Charter Schools, which has six campuses in the Dallas area.

-- YES Prep Public Schools, which operates schools in Houston.

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