The November issue of School Reform News reports on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million grant to the New Jersey school system – given, he said, because “I really just believe in” Gov. Chris Christie and Mayor Cory Booker.
Also in this issue:
- Washington, DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee resigned in October after more than three contentious years of reform.
- A former hedge fund manager in California is helping revolutionize online learning through a Web site he runs out of a converted closet in his Silicon Valley home. Sal Khan’s online academy has won praise from students and parents–and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
- Indianapolis students who switched from traditional public schools to charter schools made substantial strides in math achievement and smaller gains in reading. African-Americans made statistically significant gains in math, and Hispanics demonstrated growth in reading.
- Lawmakers in New Jersey lifted a statewide charter school cap from 20 schools to 35, but charter operators question a proposed accountability system that would require charters to reach higher academic achievement than traditional public schools.
- From charter schools in Hawaii and Colorado to colleges and universities in Texas and Oklahoma, educators are exploring the educational value of Apple’s tablet computer.
- A new state law allows Garden State parents unsatisfied with the quality of their local school to enroll their children in a public school outside their home district. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) says he plans to seek additional educational options for parents and children.
- Thousands of teachers throughout North Carolina received pink slips this spring. Protest marches followed, a media blitz ensued, and newspapers across the state deemed the layoffs “catastrophic” and “disastrous.” Turns out, news of the catastrophe was greatly exaggerated.
