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going big

July 23, 2012

After 18 months, Klein outlines plan for NewsCorp’s ed division

by Philissa Cramer, at 3:25 pm

A screenshot from Amplify's website

The day Joel Klein resigned as New York City schools chancellor in November 2010, he said he would be joining Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation “to put [the company] in the burgeoning and dynamic education marketplace.”

But after quickly acquiring people and companies, Klein decamped for a year to lead NewsCorp’s internal handling of its phone-hacking scandal. Just what, if anything, was happening behind the education division’s doors remained far out of public view.

That changed today. A month after Klein returned to the division fulltime, NewsCorp announced in a press release that the division has a name, a website, and a mission: “reimagining K-12 education by creating digital products and services that empower students, teachers and parents in new ways.”

The division, named Amplify, will work with AT&T to bring some of those products and services to schools starting this fall. The press release says the division will amplify “insight” through Wireless Generation, the NewsCorp-owned technology company that developed the city’s internal data warehouse, ARIS, and now works in all 50 states; amplify “learning” by creating curriculum materials that are aligned to the Common Core learning standards; and amplify “access” by putting all of its tools on tablet devices that operate wirelessly.

Amplify’s promotional materials define it as a “company” and call its tools “products,” but neither the press release nor the website provides any clue about how much the division’s tools would cost districts and schools. In the first year, AT&T will provide tablets and wireless access to participating schools.

In a post on Amplify’s website, Klein offers a preemptive strike against “skeptics” who do not think private companies should be involved in public education.

“The private sector should not drive teaching and learning innovations, but private-sector investment and involvement can (and should) accelerate such innovations in partnership with experts and educators in the field,” Klein writes. “There is no one sector-specific solution here.”

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  • I noticed that…

    I feel that Klein is sending a subliminal message to the public in the above advertisement.  He’s really saying “Welcome to Amplify” the $ Profit at News Corporation through the Wireless Generation that children will provide.

  • Anonymous

    Will someone interpret that last paragraph for me?

    It sounds like a bunch of BS to make it seem like they want input from teachers, but who believes those lies? Another ploy by two self-appointed faux educators looking to get rich off the taxpayers.

    Will they hack into these wireless devices like the cell phone of the missing murdered 13 year old girl?

    When Murdoch wants to be involved in profitting (oops I mean educating) off of our children, something is definitely wrong.

    Stay away from our schools and our children. We don’t need or want your self-serving advice.

  • Anonymous

    One Question Klein…what’s your definition of an “expert and educator”? Bloomberg? Rhee?
    You? As a parent, I will talk to the teachers before I get advice from your or your bloviating cronies.

  • Larry

    That flushing sound you hear is our tax dollars going down the toilet.  Is Murdoch really responsible for the ARIS boondoggle or did he aquire the company later?

  • Arthur

    We are all making really good comments. It is now time to hold our public officials responsible for making sure our money is well spent. We are getting upset and making comments yet it helps little when we see public education being turned over to public for profit organizations. I want elected officials who profess to be concerned about the public good to act in the public interest. Simply stated look at the issues and make informed educated decisions based on what is morally and ethically correct.

  • David Dunn

    Klein didn’t “partner” with educators and parents while he was Chancellor, why should we buy his tripe now?

  • guest

    He joined the NYC DOE and worked to destroy it which to a degree he did.  He joined News Corp and it is on its way to destruction.  Now he’s trying to tell the world he is an educator.  He is evil, always has been and always will be.

  • Anonymous

    Because he thinks we’re stupid and we represent a flow of tax dollars into his pocket. He could care less about our children.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002397245457 Mary Conway-Spiegel

    1.  ARIS?  ARIS was a monumental waste of money…Most parents I know or advocate for either  a.  don’t know about ARIS  or  b. don’t use it.  ARIS is the claim to fame?  

    2.  Now more?  ”There is no one sector-specific solution here.”  There have been no solutions…we’ve sampled the wares for a decade and still our youth need remediation when they get to college.

  • food for thought

    We will now all see what happened to the $1 BILLION Klein moved to fund his Izone initiative of 200 new Izone schools 2 days AFTER tendering his resignation as Chancellor. Why  has he been given a pass on the ethics violation/conflicts about steering this money to a company that he helped orchestrate its takeover by News corp?

  • Jjman36

    Klein and Rup, you have to be kidding me right? When do the good guys ride in?

  • Michael Fiorillo

    Klein has apparently helped the ghoulish Murdoch successfully flaunt responsibility for the hacking of a murdered child’s cell phone, among many other crimes: now he’s helping Murdoch potentially sink his fangs into millions of children.

    The hypocrisy and moral corruption it all requires a muckraking satirist to do it justice, and even then it might exceed the reach of the most cynical observer. These are very bad people doing very bad things, and getting richly rewarded for it.

  • Anonymous

    In a NY Times article, he added, “I’m candid that if this isn’t embraced by teachers in America, it won’t work.”

    I left him a message:

    Dear Mr. Klein:

    I am an educator and a parent and I don’t embrace anything being promoted and sold by you or Murdoch. You do not care about children, teaching and learning. You care about profits, profits, profits.

    Stay away from our children. I don’t trust anyone associated with a company that hacked into the cell phone of a missing, murdered 13 year old. 

    I will collect and track student results the old fashioned way. I will get to know each of my students as individuals with dreams, strengths, goals  and opinions. We will create individual portfolios with writing samples and journal entries. We will read fiction, non fiction, memoirs, news articles, essays, short stories, poems. We will share ideas, opinions and create long term projects: research, book trailers, original plays, book blogs, etc. 

    As a teacher it is my responsibility to be data informed NOT data driven. I promise you I will not waste time staring at a computer, tablet or wireless device.

    Instead I will look at my students and see and hear them. So, I will tell you now  I take a pass on your “digital learning tools” and instead I will use my brain, my instincts and my 26 years of teaching experience to guide me, something the faux reformers (you, Rhee, Bloomberg, Sternberg) know nothing about.

  • Guest

    it was funded by foundations

  • Anonymous

    Linda, LOVE your letter to Joel “Slime”  you rock! 

    Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito” 
    “do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.” 

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