Rupert Murdoch made M a big bet on Joel Klein and his promise to bring radical disruption to the education marketplace, as he had brought radical disruption to the Néw York City public schools as Chancellor. Murdoch invested $1 billion in Klein’s Amplify company, which was competing with the giants in the business.
Amplify was a bust. It lost tens of millions every year. This year it lost $371 million, and Murdoch pulled the plug.
Only one district bought Klein’s tablet: Guilford, NC. Unfortunately, the new tablets had many problems. Screens broke. Chargers melted.
Now Amplify is searching for an investor so it can focus on curriculum and assessment. It is not clear that the market has room for this newcomer.
That’s the risk of the marketplace. Businesses come and go. Reputations rise and fall. Innovations may fail. People lose their shirts. Disruption is no guarantee of success.
Sort of like charter schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Amen, Diane. Amen!
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There is a difference in the impact of the loss. With Amplify Klein wasted Murdoch’s money, and not too many people will shed a tear. With all the waste and fraud in charter schools, taxpayer funds that should go to educate children are squandered. The students from the folded school return to the public schools after the charter has collected for them. That is why I asked if citizens ever sued their representatives for malfeasance of office. It might be a strategy to hold state governments accountable for their actions. Otherwise, the money river keeps flowing out of the public coffers without consequence, other than the potential loss of an election as in the case of Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania.
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Excellent comment…thanks retired teacher.
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The former Commissioner of Education in NJ left his state position (appointed by Chris Christie) to assume a leadershio role in Amplify. More recently, Chris Christie appointed him the new Superintendent of School in Newark, replacing the controversial Cami Anderson. Newark has been a state takeover district for years. Here is a link to an older article about Cerf leaving the NJDOE: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/02/10/cerf-to-step-down-as-new-jersey-commissioner-of-education/
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Here’s a more recent article from NJ.Com about Cerf’s appointment as Superintendent of Schools in Newark. This appointment will guarantee more charters in Newark.
http://www.nj.com/education/2015/07/state_board_approves_cerf_as_newark_superintendent.html
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How did this happen insofar as Mayor Baraka (& I read about his “crackpots” comment)? Another sellout?
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Baraka’s agreement to the deal is apparently rationalized as ‘baby steps’ in a process to return NSD to local control. At last month’s rally to protest Cerf’s nomination: “…speakers… [said] the district had simply earned the right to choose its own leader and elect its own school board… ‘The students are tired of being played as pawns,’ said Newark Student Union President Jose Leonardo. ‘We are not puppets.’
“Baraka agreed, but attempted to assure those in attendance that the tenure of Cerf or any superintendent hand-picked by the state would merely be another step toward attaining the independence they were seeking.”
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YOU GO GIRL!!!!
Sent from my iPad
>
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Doesn’t any state that uses M-Class get it from Amplify?
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Can I get anyone a serving of schadenfreude?
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It’s amazing what those in power and control can do when they want to push their beliefs. Joel Klein has been a proven failure in the field of public education, while serving his bosses successfully to both undermine and destroy public education. This man should be put in solitary confinement and kept away from civilized society, and even farther away from children.
The evil policies pushed forth under Bloomberg’s Department of Education could only receive the admiration and praise of someone like a Rupert Murdoch; his resume of hostility and undermining democracy and public education we’re golden bullets that caught the eye of his new master.
The heaping of praise and presentation of awards to those who are unworthy and undeserving symbolize the wrongs that we face today. What we are witnessing is the world turned upside down…that which is good is perceived to be evil, and that which is evil is perceived to be good. Thus, the closing of Jamaica High School and other public schools, and the faux awards and faux recognition to Klein.
Only in America can a monster so evil, be rewarded and praised.
We have seen the praising of Hurricane Katrina and the Stock Market Crash…and the bashing of students and their families of being failures, and our teachers and unions being blamed for the ills of society.
We must bring sanity and ethical values back to our neighborhoods and communities…and correct what those such as Bloomberg, Klein, and Murdoch have deformed…and call them out for what they are.
They deserve to be stripped of their wealth and power, and thrown into prison for their trespasses against humanity.
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Since we were on the topic of the “undeveloped” Klein…just a view of the sinister forces that pay and promote him for his high crimes and treason.
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Thank you Steve B for your impassioned words!
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Our district spent a huge amount of money to launch Amplify Burst in three elementary schools – huge problems and the teachers hated it-the program was very focused on testing the reading levels of students but the instruction was weak and there was not anything that astounding in their curriculum. The consultant from the company spent the entire time on how to load the student data and sort it and compare it – I kept asking her at all three trainings – could you show us a sample lesson ? The last ten minutes she did – nothing new there. To spend this kind of time testing students reading levels and sight words on top of the regular testing is really asking too much.
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Now if only Joel Klein would crash.
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Amplify amplifies the loss of Rupert Murdock investment.
Must be a big embarrassment to Joel Klein.
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What’s unsettling on the article is the assumption (or reality?) that the schools are either fully on board or preparing to board the technology bandwagon.
What was originally thought of as the integration of technology into the curriculum and classroom dynamic is becoming the opposite: the curriculum and classroom dynamic are being integrated into the technology.
This is one very strong reason why teaching is being viewed less and less as a career path with experience as a core value in the profession.
The scripted curriculum was the beginning. Why hire experienced teachers when all they have to do is read the script and follow the instructional directions? Technology, as it’s being developed now, takes it to the next step.
The base assessments, placements, lesson plans, assignments, assessments (lots of them throughout), and final grades will all be done through the digital platform. The teacher will act as a monitor who keeps the kids on task, documents, keeps track of, and follows the directives of the program, and makes sure the data is organized and easily accessed by administrators and (hopefully) parents.
All of these tasks are and have been well accomplished in the past without the use of technology as we see it today. Now our profession is being viewed differently, with the teacher relegated to the service of the technology which is developed, sold, and maintained by interests far from the immediate vicinity of the school, district, and (eventually) state. Not just the curriculum. The whole shebang.
Some would see this as progress. “Inevitable”. I’m not so sure.
This is my view of what’s happening based on personal experience and what I’ve seen and heard in the media. I’m open to debate and/or discussion.
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