Valor Education

Legal name: Valor Texas Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811145945
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Austin, Texas, USA
Phone
(512) 646-4170
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$51,394,502
Expenses
$47,467,918
Assets
$187,152,260
Liabilities
$163,627,373

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Williams (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Williams (President & CEO): $249,784 total reported compensation
  • Jesse Bates (COO): $191,872 total reported compensation
  • Stephen Gordon (Superintendent of Schools): $186,334 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Valor Education exists to educate the whole person in authentic communities for a full human life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Valor operates five schools with four located in and near Austin, Texas and a fifth located in San Antonio, Texas and had approximately 4,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade for the 2024-2025 school year. Valor's distinctive program offers students a full human education rooted in the classical liberal arts tradition, from the Great Books to fine arts to advanced math and science.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Liabilities are high compared with assets and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $49.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.6%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.94; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 42% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 83.9% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $42.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $250K · 17 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $39.5M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.