Facebook CEO to sink $100 million into ailing Newark schools

by Steven Mostyn - Sep 23 2010, 07:16

The public school system in Newark, New Jersey, is hardly known as a shining beacon of educational achievement, struggling amid some of the worst test scores and lowest graduation rates in the United States.

However, the future of its pupils may soon be somewhat brighter following news of a massive $100 million USD donation that will be offered up this week by Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder, CEO and president of Facebook.

In order to increase public awareness regarding the plight of Newark's schools, Facebook's generous donation is expected to be announced during this Friday's edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago.

Zuckerberg will reportedly be a guest on the show along with Newark Mayor Cory Booker (Dem), and Gov. Chris Christie (Rep)—with Booker expected to be handed an element of control over how the Newark school system develops from this point forward.

According to Fox News, approximately $22,000 USD per year is invested into each of Newark's 40,000 pupils, but only around half of that figure successfully graduates from the school system.

Even more worryingly, almost 90 percent of students attending community colleges in Newark require some form of remedial assistance in fundamental subjects such as mathematics and English.

Increasing his philanthropic activities at the tender age of just 26, Zuckerberg has established the $100 million USD donation to help realise his long-time ambition of improving educational standards in the U.S., according to an unnamed source closely linked to Facebook's monetary foundation.

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