Fort Bend ISD Education Foundation Ranks Second in its Division in National Study of K-12 Education Foundations

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The nation’s only study and ranking of K-12 education foundations, “Stepping Up: The Top K-12 Education Foundations in the Nation,” has ranked Fort Bend ISD (FBISD) Education Foundation at second in its division and 37th overall in the nation. “Stepping Up” looked at eight key performance categories to determine the ranking: annual revenues, revenues per student, total assets, assets per student, investment income, total program expenses, expenses per student and human capital (volunteers).

The purpose of the “Stepping Up” study is to advocate the importance of K-12 education foundations while recognizing those that do it best. “Most parents have never heard of their local K-12 education foundation, yet nearly all children are impacted by the foundation’s work,” said Dewey Caruthers, president of dewey & associates and author of the study. “Education foundations enhance public education in many vital ways: through grants to teachers and schools programs, providing materials and equipment across curriculums that open children’s minds to more than a high stakes test and dropout prevention efforts that keep students from quitting, just to name a few.”

Since its inception in 1992, the Fort Bend Education Foundation has served as a powerful catalyst for extraordinary academic achievement, providing funds to support innovative academic projects and staff development opportunities. Awarding over $30 million dollars to Fort Bend ISD teachers and schools, it touches every school in FBISD.

The study reviews K-12 education foundations in the top 100 largest school districts in the nation by population. The eight performance categories used in the study pulls information directly from the foundations’ 990 filings with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Per student calculations are added to better reveal the impact a foundation is having based on the number of students in the district.

In addition to the overall national rankings, four divisions were created to divide foundations based on annual revenues. Division 1 includes foundations with $2 million or more in revenue; Division 2 includes foundations with revenue of $1 million to $1,999,999; Division 3 includes foundations with half a million dollars to $999,999 in revenues and Division 4 includes foundations with less than half a million dollars in revenue.

“Based on the ‘Stepping Up’ rankings, we can see that Texas education foundations are positively effecting public education, and that deserves national recognition,” said Brenna Cosby, executive director.

For more information about the Fort Bend Education Foundation, visit at www.fortbendisd.com/foundation.