John Thompson: What Will Zuckerberg Learn From Newark?
Guest post by John Thompson.
Dale Russakoff's New Yorker profile "Schooled" is a wonderful account of Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million investment in Newark school reform, and how and why it failed. Perhaps the best new revelation in "Schooled" starts with the lesson Russakoff learned from a wealthy donor. "Investors bet on people, not on business plans, because they know successful people will find a way to be successful." And, sure enough, when Facebook's founder announced his plan to transform Newark schools, "One Newark," he explained that he was persuaded by then-mayor Cory Booker, "This is the guy I want to invest in. This is a person who can create change."
Booker created a confidential draft plan to "make Newark the charter school capital of the nation." Because it would be driven by philanthropic donors, no openness would be required. "Real change requires casualties," Booker argued, and stealth was required to defeat "the pre-existing order," which will "fight loudly and viciously."
This raises the question of what would have happened if Booker had done all of "the right things," and been transparent, instead of caricaturing teachers and unions. What if Booker had provided Zuckerberg with a fair and balanced analysis of school improvement issues?
What if Booker had objectively reported the results of Newark's high-performing charters, such as North Star Academy, a member of the Uncommon Schools network? North Star was driven by data and non-unionized teachers who could "teach like champions!" The result was proficiency John Thompson: What Will Zuckerberg Learn From Newark? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:
