Green Dot Public Schools, which operates 10 charter high schools in Los Angeles, has been awarded a $10.5 million grant from the Broad Foundation.
The nonprofit organization, which opened its first high school in 2000, will use the grant to establish 21 new, small high schools in the city over the next four years.
Green Dot’s existing schools are located in some of Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods and serve mostly Latino and some African-American students. Students in the schools have consistently outscored their counterparts at similar high schools in Los Angeles Unified and neighboring districts.
The Broad Foundation, also based in Los Angeles, has close ties to Green Dot. It previously gave the charter organization $2.4 million, and a vice president of the foundation sits on Green Dot’s board. Before last week’s grant announcement, Green Dot founder Steve Barr had raised about $25 million in private support for his schools. (“Charter School Activist Gains New Influence in L.A.,” Nov. 8, 2006.)
