Dive Brief:
- "What's your bottom line?" University of Southern California Professor William G. Tierney asks Mark Zuckerberg in an open letter on the importance of having a clear goal when giving to education, published by The Huffington Post on Tuesday.
- Zeroing in on Zuckerberg's donation of $100 million to Newark schools, Tierney claims the philanthropic donation did not actually enact much change, instead helping then-Mayor Cory Booker's senate campaign and ultimately lining the pockets of various school consultants.
- Failures in Newark push Tierney to question Zuckerberg's recent announcement that he will give $120 million to Bay Area schools for the creation of charter schools and new tech in classrooms.
Dive Insight:
Ultimately, Tierney argues that having specific goals is a must when donating money to education. "Giving money to create fundamental educational reforms like you're doing won't work, Mark. Again, I admire you for trying, but you're looking in the wrong places, and not requiring clear outcomes," writes Tierney.
Tierney, the director of USC's Pullias Center for Higher Education, gives Zuckerberg two suggestions. One, the founder of Facebook could donate the money toward increasing minimum wage, which in turn would bring children out of poverty and ultimately increase their likelihood of success. If Zuckerberg thinks those goals are too broad, Tierney's second option involves saying the money is going specifically toward homeless youth with the goal of decreasing their dropout rate by 50% and increasing their college attendance rate by 50% within five years.
The letter ultimately spotlights chasms in understanding and beliefs about the impact of poverty on education. While some believe failures in education are a matter of the choices available and that charter schools will fix those issues, others believe poverty is the biggest hurdle limiting education outcomes.
