AMERICA AT ITS BEST:

Schools Run by Newark May Yet Reflect Christie’s Vision (RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA, 9/24/10, NY Times)

Handed new power to reinvigorate the Newark school system, Mayor Cory A. Booker is likely to push for politically charged ideas like more charter schools, aid for private-school tuition and linking teacher pay to student performance, according to people who have worked with the mayor and followed his career and comments on education.

But as people around the city absorbed the news that the school system, which has been under state control since 1995, would soon receive a $100 million gift from a founder of Facebook, and that Gov. Chris Christie would ask Mr. Booker to devise an agenda for the troubled school system, there were more questions on Thursday than answers about what it all meant, and what political and legal obstacles were ahead.

Mr. Christie and Mr. Booker will publicly discuss the plan for the first time on Friday, on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” along with Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. Like the schools overhaul, Mr. Zuckerberg’s gift — by far the largest in the city’s history and his first significant charitable venture — raises a host of unanswered questions, including what form it will take and how the money will be used.

People briefed on the plan said the governor, a Republican, would give Mr. Booker, a Democrat, the task of coming up with a school reform plan but retain legal authority over the system. While the mayor may be the public face of change, nothing could be done without the governor’s approval.