(USA Today) — Six months after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Oprahto give $100 million to improve Newark’s strapped and struggling schools, $99 million is still sitting in the bank. Newark Mayor Cory Booker quickly raised $43 million in matching donations. But what’s followed has been less rosy:
•The superintendent left in February after being fired byRepublican Gov. Chris Christie; a new leader hasn’t been named. The state has controlled Newark’s schools since 1995.
•A plan to close some schools and to let charter schools share space with public schools infuriated parents — especially after it was revealed the plan was written by a consulting firm founded by New Jersey’s acting education commissioner.
• Booker has been criticized for not revealing enough about the sources of the $43 million and for spending $1 million on a survey of parents’ thoughts on school reform.
