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New York City’s Big Donors Find New Cause: Public Schools

A flair for high-society smooching has not always been an essential skill in running New York City’s public schools. But there was Joel I. Klein, the schools chancellor, at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, grinning awkwardly as he blew a kiss across the room to Elizabeth Rohatyn, the philanthropist and wife of the former ambassador to France.

The moment occurred at a November luncheon debate about education whose guests included fashionistas, artists, wealthy businessmen or, in many cases, their wealthy wives, and it captured how, in remaking the school system, Mr. Klein and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have forged a close bond with the private sector, raising $311 million and turning public education into a darling cause of the corporate-philanthropic-society set.

"When I went out 10 years ago to dinners, I rarely ever spoke about what I was doing in education," said Mrs. Rohatyn, who in 1994 founded Teaching Matters, a nonprofit organization that advocates better use of technology in schools. "I find that’s very different now. People want to engage in it. They want to talk about it. They are enthused."

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/nyregion/30charity.html?hp&ex=1136005200&en=0358eec25ba22e12&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Related Story: Gazette opinion: Communication key to support for schools. The community needs to know more about our schools. Voters won’t support what they don’t know. http://www.matr.net/article-17521.html

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