Bloomberg: Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will donate $100 million to assist schools in Newark, New Jersey's largest city, an education advocate said.
Derrell Bradford, executive director of Excellent Education for Everyone, an education advocacy group in Newark, said the money will support efforts to improve schools through giving teachers merit pay and expanding charter schools. He said he learned about the gift from the office of Governor Chris Christie. A person within Christie's administration confirmed the gift.
Zuckerberg, 26, chose Newark because of the persuasive powers of Mayor Cory Booker, Bradford said. Booker, a 41-year- old Democrat, is a co-founder of Excellent Education for Everyone.
"The mayor is a magician," Bradford said. "This experiment is as high a stakes experiment in school reform as you can do. If they're not successful, it might never happen again."
Christie will give Booker a larger role in running the city schools, and the mayor will also get a "major" role in picking a new superintendent, the New York Times reported. The district, with about 39,000 students, has been under state control since 1995. |
