NY comptroller nixes school deal with Murdoch co.

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York's comptroller has spiked a $27 million contract with one of media giant Rupert Murdoch's companies because of the phone hacking scandal in Great Britain.

The Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/rl95Rp ) that Thomas DiNapoli (dee-NAP'-oh-lee) rejected last week a state Education Department contract with Wireless Generation, a News Corp. affiliate.

Wireless Generation was to get $27 million of the state's $700 million in federal Race to the Top money to develop software that would track test scores.

News Corp.'s British tabloid News of the World was shut down last month amid the phone hacking and police bribery scandal. Besides the scandal, DiNapoli's office also said there was an incomplete record about the company's qualifications.

Jonathan Burman, an education department spokesman, tells the Daily News that DiNapoli bowed to pressure from teachers' unions.

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Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com