Zuckerberg is worth $6.9 billion, good enough to make him the 35th wealthiest American, according to Forbes magazine rankings out this week. His massive donation establishes him as a major player in philanthropy, placing him alongside others made wealthy by technology innovations, including Microsoft Corp. co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Details have not been disclosed on how the money may be spent in Newark, where the school district budget this year is $940 million, but it will likely give Booker some control over his city’s school district.
The schools have been state-run since 1995 but consistently have some of the state’s lowest scores on standardized tests and worst graduation rates. The problems have continued to mount despite major infusions of funds from the state government, which has been under court order to improve schools in Newark and other impoverished New Jersey cities.
According to the official with knowledge of the plans, Christie won’t give up state control of Newark schools as part of the deal, but will authorize Booker to implement the education plan. Christie will still have ultimate control and can veto any moves.
Christie, like Booker, is an advocate of more publicly funded charter schools, using public money to send children to private schools and paying teachers partly based on how well students perform. The ideas from both often make teachers unions bristle, though union officials in Newark declined to comment.
For Christie, the deal may be a way to recover from the biggest misstep of his administration so far: Last month, the state missed out on a $400 million federal education grant because of a simple error on its application.
Former state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler was fired in the aftermath.
Education scholars and advocates will be watching closely.
Newark and other impoverished New Jersey districts have received infusions of state funding over the last two decades, but they’ve still lagged far behind schools in the suburbs. Advocates are hoping the effort brings reform, not just money.
“Just throwing a lot of money at a problem doesn’t necessarily solve anything, and I think past history demonstrates this,” said Joseph DePeirro, dean of education at Seton Hall University.
Bradford, of the Newark-based education reform group, said: “If you are enormously successful, then you really have outlined a model of how you can use private philanthropy to break the status quo. And if you fail, you’ve given everybody a billion reasons never to try again.”
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