The grant, from the National Education Association, is part of a five-year effort to target two Columbus high schools, 10TV's Tracy Townsend reported.

Briggs and Linden-McKinley high schools will be part of a focus to close achievement gaps at those high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed into them.

"There are many leaders that have come out of the Linden-McKinley and the Briggs feeder patterns," said superintendent Gene Harris. "We just want to make sure that we use these dollars to make sure that all of our students reach ultimate success."

The district is one of only three across the country chosen to receive the grant, Townsend reported.

The NEA's Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative is a program that partners teachers unions, community leaders and schools districts to develop new ways to close achievement gaps, Townsend reported.

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