Fwd: Calls for 'greater transparency' in Newark
Leah Z. Owens
From: Wilhelmina Holder <nwke...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Subject: Calls for 'greater transparency' in Newark
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The Mayor’s office cited “executive privilege” and claimed that any “conversations regarding a grant, contribution, donation, gift and/or pledge of $100 million made by Facebook CEO founder Mark Zuckerberg that may have taken place between Mayor Cory Booker and any other person…were not made in the course of the Mayor’s official duties and are therefore exempt from OPRA.”
The NAACP’s request and the letter from the Mayor’s office are attached.
Mayor Cory Booker to call for policy of greater transparency in Newark schools philanthropy
Star Ledger 3/1/11
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/mayor_cory_booker_to_call_for.html
“Every dollar of private money raised for Newark public schools will now be publicly accounted for and every donor will be publicly named. The new policy will be announced tonight as part of Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s fifth state of the city address. This comes in response to a week of questions and criticisms surrounding the role of philanthropic dollars as they drive school reform in the state’s largest and most-watched school district.”
“What happened last week was a huge step backward. It reconfirmed the community’s distrust of their leaders," said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who was in Newark Monday touring the BRICK Avon Academy. The Newark Teachers Union is a subsidiary of the AFT.
Cerf will not attend schools hearing Tuesday
Politicker NJ
http://www.politickernj.com/45352/source-cerf-will-not-attend-schools-hearing-tuesday
Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf will not be attending the Joint Committee on Public Schools hearing, scheduled for Tuesday morning, sources told PolitckerNJ.com.
Cerf has come under criticism after the Newark public School District hired a consulting group he founded for an ambitious plan to replace underperforming schools with charter schools
Previously, Sen. Ron Rice [D-Newark] said he would hold up Cerf’s nomination unless he appeared before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools.
Coalition for Effective Newark Schools launches website
https://sites.google.com/site/coalition4enps/
A Newark coalition of parents, civic and advocacy groups working for “progressive reform” has launched a new website. The Coalition seeks to promote community participation in Newark school reform efforts and has produced a 5-point plan titled “Voices for Progressive Education”
The website has a number of resources, including a look at the recently disclosed controversial plan to close, consolidate and co-locate charters in Newark public schools.
https://sites.google.com/site/coalition4enps/actions
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FACEBOOK DEAL OPRA REQUEST
Please provide all emails, correspondence or other documents, whether electronic or paper, to and/or from Mayor Cory Booker, his staff, and/or any employee of the City of Newark related to a) the grant, donation, contribution, gift and/or pledge of $100 million made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to support the Newark Public Schools, and b) to the solicitation and/or receipt of matching funds for the Zuckerberg grant, donation, contribution, gift and/or pledge, from June 1, 2010 until present.
This request shall include, but not be limited to, all emails, correspondence and other documents between Mayor Booker, his staff, and any employee of the City of Newark, and the following persons:
1. Mark Zuckerberg and/or his staff or any person employed by, or affiliated with, Facebook;
2. Governor Christopher Christie and/or his staff;
3. Former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler and current Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks, his/her staff, or any other employee of the NJ Department of Education;
4. The Newark Public Schools, its employees, and/or members of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board;
5. Any member of Newark City Council and/or his/her staff;
6. The Start Up: Education Foundation, Jennifer Holleran, and/or any person employed by, or affiliated with the Foundation
7. Any member of the New Jersey Legislature and/or his/her staff;
8. Oprah Winfrey and/or any person employed by and/or affiliated with Ms. Winfrey;
9. Pershing Square Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates, Eagle Capital Management, William Ackman, Beth and Ravenel Curry, and/or any other foundation, corporation, limited partnership, other organization or individual;
10. Any staff, employee, trustee, or other person associated with the Partnership for Education in Newark ("PENewark"); and
11. Any staff, employee, trustee, or other person associated with the Newark Charter School Fund.
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. . . Newark educators as impetuses in the creation of social and educational alliances that empower teachers, students, and parents . . .
Leah Z. Owens, Chief Organizer
TaLiN: Teachers as Leaders in Newark
www.TaLinNewark.org
FB Group: Teachers as Leaders in Newark / Twitter @TaLinNewark
919.452.1565 (cell)
LZO...@TaLinNewark.org
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