Dive Brief:
- In a review of Dale Russakoff’s new book on the Newark schools overhaul, The New York Times' Jonathan Knee examines the absence of students from most ideological discussions of education.
- The book, called “The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools,” examines what happened in Newark, NJ, schools after Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to fund a massive overhaul of the troubled district.
- Much of the money was spent on initiatives not directly related to classrooms, with $31 million for unions and $20 million for district consultants.
Dive Insight:
"The Prize" traces how well-intentioned policies and school reform in Newark, on both sides of the political divide, remained divorced from the often traumatic experiences of the city's students. In his conclusion, Knee draws a disheartening parallel between family courts, where judges are tasked with defending the best interests of children, and schools, where the legal imperatives are less straightforward.
“Although easier to defend in the abstract than to apply in the particular, the simple concept is that children’s ability to achieve their full potential is of paramount importance,” Knee writes. “No such rule, unfortunately, constrains politicians, unions, administrators or even parents when it comes to the organization and operation of public education.”