Just as we're in the middle of learning about Oprah Winfrey's $4 million donation to Charter schools in Chicago through her Angel Network [read more here], another billionaire one-ups her to the tune of $100 million.
Thanks to 26-year-old Mark Zuckerberg CEO Facebook, the largest school district in New Jersey will receive the donation towards a plan to reform public school education.
Zuckerberg, the founder of the popular social-networking site Facebook, will officially make an announcement on Oprah's TV show Friday that will bring together the young internet tycool, Newark's celebrated Democratic mayor and a governor who has quickly become a star of the Republican party.
"What you're seeing is for the under-40 set, education reform is what feeding kids in Africa was in 1980," said Derrell Bradford, the executive director of the Newark-based education reform group Excellent Education for Everyone. "Newark public schools are like the new Live Aid."
Some say yes, but many wealthy Americans are combining their philanthropic aspirations to reform the public education system that continues to fall unheard in the shadow of defense spending during the War on Terror.
In November, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced $290 million in grants, along with $45 million for research into effective teaching. The grants included $100 million to Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla., $90 million to Memphis City Schools, $60 million to a coalition of charter school organizations in Los Angeles, and $40 million to Pittsburgh Public Schools.
An official familiar with the Newark plan confirmed it to The Associated Press on Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the parties have been told not to usurp the announcement on Winfrey's show. The donation was initially reported Wednesday night by media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Star-Ledger of Newark.
Education scholars and advocates will be watching closely.
"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."
Source: Rocafella.
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