Alliance for College-ready Public Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954779029
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2139434930
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,738,936
Expenses
$14,569,884
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAN KATZIR (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAN KATZIR (CEO): $436,726 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT ANTHONY ESCALANTE (GENERAL COUNSEL): $244,846 total reported compensation
  • ANA MENEZES (CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER): $233,937 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the alliance is to open and operate excellent, small, public, high-performing middle and high schools in three historically low-income communities within the los angeles unified school district that will significantly outperform other public schools in preparing students to enter and succeed in college. Although the entity has been dissolved as of 12/31/2019, all activity for the school will now be included on alliance college-ready public schools, formerly known as alliance marine - innovation and technology 6-12 complex (EIN: 47-2892698), form 990 going forward.

What it reported doing in 2019

The alliance for college-ready public schools (the "alliance") is a nonprofit charter management organization committed to creating high-performing, small, college-ready middle schools and high schools in los angeles.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 85% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 1
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 37%; rating input score 37
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -35.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50% of revenue deployed · 37% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $437K · 38 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $912K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2009 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 28 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.