Cory Booker in Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina

On Education: 2010: Appointed to oversee $100M donation to Newark schools

Gov. Christie made an appearance on Oprah with Newark Mayor Cory Booker to accept a $100 million gift from Mark Zuckerberg, who started up the wildly successful social network Facebook. Zuckerberg's appearance on Oprah Winfrey was just one of the latest examples of celebrities or wealthy philanthropists jumping on board the education bandwagon.

What is disturbing, however, is the ease with which celebrities and national figures have disparaged public education. What do they know about the issue other than what the read or hear? The last time any of them probably stepped in a classroom was when they attended high school.

The money Zuckerberg donated to the Newark schools came with certain restrictions. The biggest restriction was that Zuckerberg wanted a say on how the schools were run. And his first demand was that Booker be put in charge of the schools. Of course, NJ state law prevents that. So Christie had to get creative, and named Booker as his representative to the Newark schools.

Source: Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina, p.142-143 Feb 17, 2011

On Education: OpEd: $100M gift to Newark schools was a publicity sellout

[After receiving $100 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as a donation to the Newark public schools,] the first thing that Booker did was to order a survey of the Newark community to find out what was wrong with public education in Newark. An organization called PENewark spent over $1 million conducting the survey, which was later called too vague by scientific experts to relay any meaningful information. So after spending $500,000 on advertising and another $500,000 on salaries, Newark has to conduct the survey again, this time with the help of education experts from Rutgers and NYU.

Zuckerberg's monumental gift was played for all the publicity it could get on Oprah Winfrey's show and it certainly did help the public forget about the Race to the Top fiasco. But the fact that Christie and Booker were selling out to Zuckerberg in order to get their hands on his money did not sit well with many educators.

Source: Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina, p.143 Feb 17, 2011

On Education: Supervises Newark schools by gubernatorial appointment

The mayors taking control of school districts: "It would politicize the entire system. It would start making decisions even more political than they are today, especially in our large cities. In NJ, we have enough rules and regulations and laws that require certain backgrounds, certain certifications for you to be running a public school system. Booker doesn't have them."

No, Booker doesn't have certification as a school administrator. Perhaps that's why Governor Christie is pushing, as one of the staples of his education reform agenda, to make it easier for principals and school leaders to gain certification by going through an alternate route. Alternative route programs generally mean that prospects are not required to earn college credits by taking courses in education or to have the appropriate educational experience that would be needed to run a school system.

Source: Teachers Under Attack!, by Mike Spina, p.166 Feb 17, 2011

The above quotations are from Teachers Under Attack! How NJ Governor Chris Christie's Personal Vendetta Against Teachers Will Destroy Public Education by Mike Spina. Click here for other excerpts from Teachers Under Attack! How NJ Governor Chris Christie's Personal Vendetta Against Teachers Will Destroy Public Education by Mike Spina. Click here for other excerpts by Cory Booker. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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Page last updated: Feb 25, 2019