A national organization leading one facet of efforts to improve charter school quality has received $9.4 million from three major foundations to strengthen the practices of school boards and other entities that are responsible for authorizing and overseeing charters.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers last month announced the grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. Greg Richmond, the president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based NACSA, said the money would be used to institute professional standards among charter authorizers in certain cities and states.
The group has previously received support from the Walton Family Foundation, a strong backer of charter schools and other forms of school choice. This is the first time that the Gates and Dell foundations are providing funding to NACSA.
