The second biggest piece of Zuckerberg’s donation – $25 million – went to charter schools in Newark. For students who were able to attend one of the excellent charter schools in Newark, this was beneficial.
But the expansion of charters in Newark also sent the city into upheaval due to the implementation of the plan. Essentially, schools were consolidated and rearranged to downsize districts.
It was done quickly and without input from parents or local administrators, who could have provided guidance on how the changes would play out among the community.
This was a big change for a school system where most kids walked to school. Further, Russakoff explained, it could put students in dangerous situations.
“When a school is closed, children had to walk through very dangerous territory, sometimes through gang territory, through drug-dealing neighborhoods,” Russakoff told NPR. “And none of that was kind of vetted in advance to see what can we do for these kids to make sure they’re safe.”
Finally, $20 million of Zuckerberg’s donation went to consultants who took care of management of the projects. While not technically a failure, this contributed to the poor optics of the plan.
Consultants were making $1,000 a day while the local teachers and administrators did not see any of the additional funds in merit pay that they were promised.
We reached out to Facebook to give Zuckerberg an opportunity to comment, and we will update the post if we hear back.
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