Facebook may be undermining your child’s ability to focus on their studies, but, at least if you live in Newark, New Jersey, it will also be providing your kids school with the budget it so desperately needs. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is expected to announce the fact that Zuckerberg is donating $100 to the public schools of Newark on Oprah this Friday, along with Newark Mayor Cory Booker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Along with the donation, Booker will gain more control over his city’s troubled school system, which is currently run by the state. Newark has some of New Jersey’s lowest test scores and poorest graduation rates. Christie elected not to rehire the current superintendant of schools in Newark and a search is underway for a replacement.
This is a rare moment of hope for the district, and the state, both of which have been subject to one crisis after another, the most recent of which was the loss of a $40 million educational grant because of a clerical error. Zuckerberg has no particularly connection to Newark, but Booker met Zuckerberg at a conference recently and began a continuing conversation about Bookers plans to revitalize his city. Booker has made a point of traveling all over the country meeting with business people and celebrities seeking support for his agendas. He recently helped Oprah Winfrey make a $500 thousand donation to one of the area’s charter schools.
Zuckerberg’s donation is just the beginning of what will reportedly become a foundation for education funded by the dot com billionaire.
