Dear Commons Community,

Education Week is reporting that Amplify, the beleaguered digital education division of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., was sold last week to a team of 11 Amplify executives that includes former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. The sale happened after massive layoffs within the division.  As reported (subscription required):

“Larry Berger, whose company Wireless Generation’s purchase by News Corp. five years ago had signaled the media giant’s move into education, will lead Amplify as CEO under the new ownership.

The management team buying the education division was supported in the purchase by a group of private investors, according to a News Corp. announcement, which did not reveal terms of the sale. In August, News Corp. indicated that it had written off $371 million in losses from Amplify over the past year, and planned to put it up for sale.

News Corp. has invested $1 billion in the education division since 2010.

The two Amplify Education businesses conveyed in the sale were Amplify Learning, which provides core curriculum in a variety of subjects for K-12, and Amplify Insight, which provides analytics, data, and assessment. The failed Amplify Access, which sold tablet computers with a “K-12 learning system,” has been discontinued, but the company will still support its ongoing project in the Guilford County, N.C., schools.

Berger has been serving as the CEO of Amplify Learning. Klein, the former Amplify Education CEO, will be moving to the new company’s board of directors, according to an email that Berger sent to staff members Sept. 30, the day the sale closed. “

Amplify had several decent education software products but failed horribly with several new ventures during Klein’s tenure.  It will be interesting to see whether the new ownership can turn its prospects around.

Tony