Walton Family Foundation Donates $25 Million To KIPP

The Walton Family Foundation announced today that it is investing $25.5 million in the KIPP Foundation over the next five years.

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) was created in Houston in 1994 by Teach For America alumni Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. The public schools that adopt the KIPP platform aim to improve learning in under-resourced urban and rural communities.

The Walton Family Foundation investment will help KIPP grow from serving 27,000 students in 2010-11 to 59,000 students in 2015-16. The grant will help KIPP expand to serve more students and will support KIPP’s efforts to train more than 750 educators to open new KIPP charter schools as well as to take on increased leadership roles within existing schools. The grant will not directly fund operations for any KIPP school.

There are KIPP schools in Helena and Blytheville, Arkansas.

“We are honored and grateful that the Walton Family Foundation has made this catalytic investment,” said Richard Barth, Chief Executive Officer of the KIPP Foundation. “Thanks to their support, we will be able to double the number of students we serve over the next five years while continuing to foster a culture of continuous improvement and sustainability in our schools.”

“Through our investment in KIPP, the Walton Family Foundation seeks to expand the high-performing school options available to low-income parents. KIPP wants to make a deeper and broader impact in the communities it serves, and we welcome the opportunity to help,” said Jim Blew, who leads the foundation’s K-12 Education Reform efforts. “KIPP has an established track record of creating public charter schools of excellence in low-income communities, and there is growing evidence that traditional public school systems are striving to replicate KIPP’s successes.”