The public school system in New Jersey's largest city is poised to receive $100 million from the founder of Facebook.
Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are expected to announce the donation Friday on Oprah Winfrey's Chicago-
I know I said the last one would be the last one and it isn’t going to be the last one. Maybe this one is the last one. Maybe not. teacherken writing on Daily Kos has what he calls some rambling thoughts about the faux docWaiting for Superman and the NBC Education Summit.
Now consider the following.
The Oprah Winfrey Show is distributed by CBS Television Studios
(subsidiary of Viacom/National Amusements) and “Waiting for Superman”
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today applauded the selection by the U.S. Department of Education of three California organizations that will each receive grants of up to $500,000 to transform distressed communities into neighborhoods of hope and empowerment for families, children, and students.
Among the 21 Promise Neighborhoods planning grants recipients announced Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, were California State University, East Bay; Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission in Los Angeles; and Youth Policy Institute, also in Los Angeles.
"This is an extraordinary day for each of these entities that assist families in their communities to overcome barriers that have been set in place by poverty and circumstance," O'Connell said. "These cradle-to-career services aimed at improving the education and health of children certainly will go a very long way to erode the link between poverty and the achievement gap.
"With help and support from entire neighborhoods, children will be able to go to school ready to learn without feeling the chronic pangs of hunger, fatigue, or fear."
Promise Neighborhoods are modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, a successful program that closed the black/white achievement gap in one of New York's poorest communities.
The U.S. Department of Education announced that a total of $10 million in awards would go to the 21 Promise Neighborhood communities. Promise Neighborhoods is the cornerstone of a broader White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative that focuses and coordinates federal resources in order to build communities that promote cradle to career success.
For more information on Promise Neighborhoods, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's Web site at:U.S. Department of Education Awards Promise Neighborhoods Planning Grants | U.S. Department of Education (Outside Source).
For more information on California State University, East Bay, please visit California State University, East Bay - Where all your possibilities come into view (Outside Source).
For more information on Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization working in the economically and politically disenfranchised community of Boyle Heights, please visit:Proyecto Pastoral (Outside Source).
And for more information on the Youth Policy Institute, also a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides education, training and technology services to lift low-income families out of poverty at 95 program sites throughout Los Angeles, please visit:Youth Policy Institute (Outside Source).
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Jack O'Connell — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
 | FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2010 file photo, billionare Bill Gates poses for a portrait while promoting the film "Waiting For 'Superman' " at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, file) |
TORONTO—Bill Gates had the good fortune to attend private school, and he sends his children there, too. Yet the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist has a passion to fix America's public schools.
Gates has been on a road show this year to promote the education documentary "Waiting for `Superman,'" talking it up at its January premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and elsewhere, including the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film played ahead of its theatrical release Friday.
"I certainly owe all my success to having had a great education. I went to an incredible school, and I remember the teachers who encouraged me. I'm so lucky. I had what every kid should have, honestly," Gates said in an interview.
"We're a country that talks about equal opportunity, but without a great education, there is no equal opportunity. And we're a country that talks about
