Who funds our schools?
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Anonymous
| My child is starting at a charter school in the fall, and the website does not have info regarding supporters or donors. Would it sound aggressive if I emailed the principal and asked for this info? After the Walmart article I'd really like to know who is paying for my kid's education. It should be public, right? |
Anonymous
The entity that "funds" your charter school is DCPS. And, no, I don't see why public disclosure of donors should be mandated. Who exactly does that benefit? Should a school's PTA force anyone who makes a donation or buys something at an auction to tell the world? |
Anonymous
| I'm not talking PTA donations. You are naive if you think DCPS foots 100% of the bill. Look by way of an example at Mundo Verde's home page. They openly list their corporate and foundation sponsors. You don't think parents have a right to know who is paying for and potentially influencing your child's education? Just trying to figure out why you are ao defensive. |
Anonymous
Not defensive. Let me be clearer: I'm not aware of any school that requires every person or entity that makes a donation to publicly identify themselves. In other words, every school seems to have concluded that parents, in fact, do not have a right to know that information. If you think that is the wrong approach, explain why. How exactly would they influence your child's education? What decisions would these presumably competent school officials make or not make because they are beholden to donors? And why is it not enough for you to have the right to leave the school if you disagree with those decisions? MV proves nothing. I think you are naive if you think MV discloses that info as part as some psuedo FOIA effort. They do it because the donors want the publicity. |
Anonymous
|
Seriously? Donors like Walmart are a very small percentage of a school's budget and don't go around dictating school curriculums, hiring decisions, or behavior management approaches or anything else. As a former employee of a school that got Walmart funds we never once thought about whether the Walton Foundation would approve of any particular decision or what would Walton think. I would be wary of grants that come with all sorts of strings and requirements rather than unrestricted funds. Those grants force schools to do things that they might not otherwise choose because of they need the associated dollars. But this tends to be true of any non-profit that accepts funds from donors who restrict funds to certain causes, approaches, etc.
Also, DCPS does not fund charters. DC Council and the mayor pass a budget and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education administers the distribution of state funds and most federal funds. Some federal funds (such as meal reimbursements and some grants) flow through other state agencies. |
Anonymous
| For non profits you can check their 990 on Guidestar, though there is usually some lag time in getting them posted so the most recent one might not be available yet. This will list major funding sources. |
Anonymous
No, the entity that funds your school is OSSE. OSSE also funds DCPS. However, unlike DCPS which also gets pots of money from the Mayor, charters have to go looking for support elsewhere. If the two were evenly funded, it wouldn't need to. |
Anonymous
| What's the school? I do a lot of research in this area and could probably tell you pretty easily. |
DClawyer
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Anonymous
Creative Minds PCS |
Anonymous
All charters submit annual reports to the PCSB. Contributions over $500 are reported. http://www.dcpcsb.org/MISC/Charter-School-Annual-Reports.aspx If you find Creative Minds' link it is on page 17. |
Anonymous
Or charters can obtain grants, loans and other funding available through OSSE and various federal programs. For example, Yu Ying received $2MM to acquire their facility on Taylor, as did Cap City. |
Anonymous
NP: These reports are very interesting. Thank you! Does DCPS have any similar requirements? |
Anonymous
They may, but I sincerely doubt that they are as easy to find. The PCSB provides more and better data about a range of matters (academic, financial, etc), than just about any other government or quasi-government agency in DC. https://data.dcpcsb.org/ http://www.dcpcsb.org/Data-Center/Accountability-002D-Academic-and-Fiscal.aspx |
Anonymous
| My rough understanding of DCPS is that DCPS schools rarely (never?) receive direct donations. Rather, they are funneled through a non-profit PTA. The PTA should have donations and expenditures publicly available, but they're unlikely to be posted on a website. If you're interested in a particular school, you can always ask. |