Key Murdoch Minion Tapped for Top Newark Public Schools Job

Newark, New Jersey has a long history of "troubled" public schools. All the king's men and all the king's horses have not been able to put the Garden State's largest K-12 system together into something approaching satisfactory performance. It got to the point where the state took over the school system. Local voices were pushed away, while Newark's public education efforts attracted the attention of political opportunists and wealthy "we-know-what's-best-for-you" ideologues.

Cami Anderson
(Image: state.nj.us)

Ironically, bellicose GOP governor Chris Christie and liberal media darling Cory Booker found common ground regarding Newark's schools. During Booker's tenure as Newark's mayor, Christie installed Cami Anderson as Newark's superintendent of schools. This was done with Booker's blessing. Ms. Anderson was no stranger in the night in the movement to "reform" K-12 education. She had served in executive capacities with Teach for America, an organization which used marginally trained, well-intended college grads as instructors in some of the nation's most desperate urban schools. (The teachers work like dogs, last about a year or two, and then in the vast majority of cases find another career.) This 21st Century version of a children's crusade also provided administrators with leverage against teachers' unions. Later, Anderson worked in New York for Wireless Generation, which later became Amplify, a Rupert Murdoch-owned enterprise whose ostensible purpose is K-12 "reform" via data-driven imperatives (supplied and managed by Amplify). Murdoch's education biz, through former NYC Education Commissioner Joel Klein, established a lucrative beach head in Gotham. Among Klein's key associates was Chris Cerf.

Chris Cerf
(Image: nj.com)

Cerf supervised Anderson's work with the NYC Department of Education. He later crossed the Hudson and worked as Governor Christie's Acting Commissioner of Education. His key hire was...ta da...you guessed it, Cami Anderson, as Newark's K-12 boss.

In 2014, according to The Star-Ledger reporter Bob Braun, Amplify Education (one of Amplify's corporate entities) received three contracts totaling about $2.3 million contract from the Newark public school system. At the time, Cerf was in the midst of a transition between his role as the state's top education dog, and jumping onto Amplify's payroll.

Recently, Ms. Anderson decided to call it quits in Newark, about eight months before her contract would have expired. A new mayor, a pissed off community whose wishes were consistently ignored by Booker and Christie, and a governor who would be king were three strong reasons for her departure. The new superintendent? Chris Cerf. He'll get a three-year deal to run the system his way. Cerf, to no one's surprise, advocates more charter schools, defanging the teacher's union, installing data-driven "solutions," and lots and lots of electronically-based testing. He'll also feel at home with "concerned" billionaires who have their own education "solutions." As it happens, Newark is an ideal petri dish for these social experiments.

Chris Christie, Oprah Winfrey, Corey Booker, Mark Zuckerberg
at the announcement of the Facebook boss' $100 million stock "donation"
to improve Newark's public schools.

We'll see if Cerf engages the parents of Newark children, something Anderson did not manage to accomplish to anyone's satisfaction. It will also be interesting to follow the money. Power brokers, notably Booker and Christie, have stonewalled any attempt at transparency regarding the Newark school system's finances and program decisions. Will Cerf be different? His political and corporate connections suggest that will not be the case.

Zuckerberg to Host Chris Christie Mixer in Palo Alto

Mark Zuckerberg
(photo: forbes.com)

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg will host a campaign fundraiser for New Jersey governor Chris Christie next month, according to a report in siliconvalley.com. The handshake-and-handout fest will continue Mr. Facebook's puzzling connection to the Garden State and its politics. Zuckerberg initially linked to New Jersey around the time the movie The Social Network flashed across American movie screens. As you may recall, Zuckerberg offered many millions to "help" the cause of "school reform" in Newark. If you are asking for evidence of the "school reform," you're not alone. Few have seen any changes in the Newark schools that warrant the donation and subsequent secrecy surrounding its use. Newark mayor and liberal media darling Cory Booker have worked overtime to squash inquiries about the funds and their utilization. It took a successful ACLU lawsuit on behalf of a Newark community organization to compel the Booker administration to release e-mail about the funds, Booker's role in their distribution, and the mayor's plans to "reform" the school system.

Sheryl Sandberg
(photo: theatlantic.com)

Meanwhile, conservative media darling Christie (well, he was beloved by the right-wing until the governor experienced his St. Paul at Damascus moment during Hurricane Sandy) is working to position himself as presidential material. Why Christie believes Silicon Valley is a more appropriate venue to test the DC waters than, say, Seaside Heights, is a fascinating question. On the other hand, what's curious about Zuckerberg's tango with the New Jersey GOP's capo is the visible political connections the company has with the Democratic Party via Facebook's resident brain, Sheryl Sandberg.

My gut tells me Christie doesn't have a chance in the presidential sweepstakes. I don't think he'll survive the primaries. VP? Maybe, but only if the top of the ticket says "Bush."

Judge Rules Newark Must Produce Facebook Donation E-Mails

According to a story in today's Star-Ledger of Newark, a Superior Court judge ruled earlier today that the city of Newark produce e-mail correspondence related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to the New Jersey city. The suit, brought by the ACLU on behalf of an organization called the Secondary Parents Council, had its genesis in the intransigence of Newark mayor Cory Booker's administration toward requests for the correspondence. Booker's team was an equal opportunity snubber, as it refused information requests regarding the Facebook largesse from The Star-Ledger and the Associated Press.

At issue is how local residents have been excluded from having any insight or say into the distribution and use of Zuckerberg's donation. For all the flapdoodle about how the money would help Newark schools and the community, the management of the funds has been extraordinarily secretive.

Keep in mind Facebook's wunderkind's highly publicized contribution came as the film The Social Contract, with its highly unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg, was released. Some saw the donation as intended to distract the public from awareness of the Facebook creator's unseemly personality. It also was tied into the politically motivated restructuring of Newark's schools and the emasculation of the city's teacher's union. However, to believe the unlikely quartet of Zuckerberg, Booker, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and Oprah Winfrey, the donation was all about education, opportunity, and community. For more on this topic, you're welcome to explore my three-part blog post about it.

Too bad no one bothered to ask the city's residents their opinion on the matter.

Audition with a Vampire

Since tonight isn't my night for communicating developed story lines or thoughtful lines of reasoning, I'll let five news items do the evening's heavy lifting.

1. Anne Rice leaves Christianity. The story notes she's seen two of the movies in the Vampire series, but hasn't read any of Stephenie Meyer's books.

2. Literary agent Andrew Wylie "threatens broad digital expansion." -- A story of interest to Ms. Rice, Ms. Meyer, and authors who have signed away their e-book rights.

3. Newark municipal swimming pools kept open via corporate donation. -- Strictly personal. I did some business with the donating firm some years ago. The more intriguing part of the story is the reference to a donation from another firm. In this case, the beneficiary is Newark's collective tush, as the donation consisted of thousands of rolls of toilet paper.

4. California governor orders new round of unpaid furloughs. How much TP would the Golden State need? State and local government finance crisis will be very prominent in 2011. Where will the money come from?

5. Don't do this at home. Go to the link. The Mischa Barton photo is the story. There are some things you just can't make up.

PS. The top image is a still from The Vampire Lovers, a UK production featuring a Polish actress portraying one of film's first explicitly lesbian vampires.