Amid fierce debate over whether charter schools are good for black students, the heirs to the Walmart company fortune have been working to make inroads with advocates and influential leaders in the black community.
The Walton Family Foundation is the leading supporter of America’s charter schools, which are publicly funded and privately operated.
An Associated Press analysis of tax filings and non-profit grants data shows the Waltons are spreading financial support to prominent and like-minded black leaders, grassroots organizations and other notable groups including the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Charter schools are often located in urban areas with large black populations but there is a deep rift of opinion about them in the black community, as highlighted by the NAACP’s call in 2016 for a moratorium on new charter schools.
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