The money reportedly did not go directly to Sharpton but was channeled through Education Reform Now, a group Gonzalez said is headed by former Daily News reporter and charter school advocate Joe Williams, who also heads Democrats for Education Reform. Williams (another busy guy), who is president and treasurer of the Education Equity project, would not tell Gonzalez how the donation was handled or what it was used for.
Williams did tell his former colleague that the project’s board has not met in the 10 months since Klein and Sharpton formed it and city Education Department employees have so far made all day-to-day decisions.
More of the story from Gail Robinson
http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/04/02/public-schools-private-money/
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Joe Williams also produced a report for the Center for Education Reform called "National Model or Temporary Opportunity? The Oakland Education Reform Story."
http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=document&documentID=2724
The report explains, from the viewpoint of those who were in power during the state takeover of Oakland Unified, their premeditated intent upon arrival, and the pre-planned strategies which they immediately deployed.
Both Randy Ward (our first State Administrator and an early graduate from the Broad Superintendents Academy) and Kevin Hall (Chief Operating Officer of the Broad Foundation who oversees the foundation’s development of innovative education initiatives and investments) were interviewed for the CER report.
The document reveals that, “A group of Oakland small school creators, activists, technocrats, and philanthropists decided that the conditions were indeed ripe to try something big.”
And most telling, they had been waiting for a “politics free zone” to push their agenda.
To me, "politics free" means non-democratic ie. authoritarian, dictatorship-type zone. Just like in NYC. Just like in DC.
The report states: “Speed was important,” said Hall, who noted that all of the conditions that were in place in Oakland convinced the foundation [Broad’s] it was a good investment. “We felt that if this happened slowly, you would give the forces of opposition too many opportunities to stop it in its tracks.”
They've been working fast.
Supposedly Joe Williams sends his kids to NYC public schools.
Read more about the Oakland experience here:
http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2009/02/national-model-or-temporary-opportunity.html
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