Walton Foundation giving $8 million to Rhee’s StudentsFirst — plus 2012 donations
The Walton Family Foundation is giving $8 million to Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst to add to the scores of millions of dollars it hands out each year to support the public education reform agenda of Walton family members.
The foundation says that in 2012, it handed out more than $158 million in funding for K-12 education reform initiatives focused on expanding charter schools and voucher programs. The big 2012 winners were (and you can see the whole list below):
- Charter Fund Inc. $14,900,000
- Teach For America (National) $11,445,000
- KIPP Foundation $8,374,000
- D.C. Public Education Fund, $5,919,229;
The $8 million to StudentsFirst is a new donation that will be awarded over two years, the foundation said in this release. It says that the money will allow Rhee’s advocacy group — which has been involved in more than 15 states in trying to enact corporate-based school reform over the past few years — to “expand its impact.”
The Walton Family Foundation is one of the three big family education philanthropies that have been donating big sums to drive specific education reforms; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation are the other two. The Walton family, which founded and runs Wal-