Dive Brief:
- Walmart founder Sam Walton's granddaughter, Carrie Walton Penner, spoke with Forbes about her vision for America's education landscape, specifically her desire to see more charter schools in the nation.
- The charter school advocate and heiress to the Walmart fortune believes competition and choice will force traditional public schools to improve since they will be forced to vie for more students and, in turn, funding.
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The Walton Family Foundation has donated over $350 million to start more than 1,600 charter schools, which is approximately 25% of the 6,400 total charter schools in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Critics of charter schools are skeptical of the belief that competition is the key to improving education. For them, charter schools decentralize education funding, taking money away from traditional public schools while also dispersing highly-motivated students. The end result leaves traditional districts poorly funded and dealing with an all-around tougher student body.
The Forbes article points out that while there are critics of charter schools, President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are both fans of the movement.
While the article does not clearly state what role Walton Penner will have in the continuation of the charter movement, it implies whatever she does will greatly impact the expansion of the schools. For example, one initiative Walton Penner and the foundation have gotten behind is the oversight of charter authorizers. In 2012, the Walton Family Foundation gave $5.2 million to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers in order to help make more stringent thresholds for charter operators — and since their donation, over 200 charter schools have closed.