Newark Superintendent Chris Cerf announced on Tuesday that the district had formed a partnership with the College Board, the private non-profit that administers the PSAT’s and SAT’s. In a press release Cerf said,

Our partnership with the College Board is critically important to the future long-term academic success of our young men and women. It is time that we offer students in Newark the same opportunities that students across New Jersey have been afforded for a number of years.

The partnership will include, according to the Star-Ledger,

• Administration of the PSAT to all 10th and 11th grade Newark students, which can open them to scholarship opportunities they would not have been eligible for otherwise.
• An “SAT School Day” in April that would provide the test to all 11th graders.
• Free access to the College Board’s online Khan Academy SAT prep and practice tools.
• A coordinated effort to increase the number of AP classes and tests offered in Newark, starting with “AP Mentoring,” a teacher-to-teacher development program aimed at increasing the number of AP classes teachers are equipped to teach.
• The expansion of the College Board’s “Access to Opportunity” program to more Newark students. The program provides college application fee waivers and financial aid guidance to kids.

The private organization has a history of footing the cost for the college entrance exams in over 100 districts in 17 states  and it’s especially noteworthy in  Newark where only 14% of residents have graduated from college.

This initiative is simply another way in which private money supplements traditional public schools.