The good news for Newark keeps coming, as my friend Bill Ackman's Pershing Sq. Foundation donated $25 million to lead the match of Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift. $40 million of the match has already been committed in only a few days! Here's an article in yesterday's WSJ, in which I'm quoted:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is expected to announce Monday that he has raised $40 million of the $100 million needed to match a grant put forth last week by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to help Newark schoolchildren.

One major boost is from the Pershing Square Foundation, started by New York investor William Ackman, which pledged $25 million in recent days.

…Mr. Ackman said in an interview Sunday his pledge represents a belief that the problems in the Newark school system "are fixable within a reasonable period of time." Mr. Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital Management, met Mr. Booker before his first mayoral run in 2002 (Mr. Booker lost) and has contributed to his campaigns since then.

…"The people who are investing this money in Newark have high expectations and they are performance-driven people," said Whitney Tilson, a Pershing Square Foundation board member who will be Mr. Ackman's representative on the board. "We will look to fund programs that have demonstrated proven effectiveness in raising student achievement."

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