Education Reform Now’s 2010 IRS 990 Form
Education Reform Now’s IRS 990 form and audited financial statement were recently posted on the NY Charities Bureau website. Below is a summary of relevant information. This post then concludes with a few brief notes.
Summary:
ERN’s total revenue and total expenses grew between 2009 and 2010:
| 2009 | 2010 | |
| Revenue | $1,155,897 | $9,126,996 |
| Expenses | $1,063,502 | $9,045,643 |
Joe Williams’ salary also increased:
| 2009 | 2010 | |
| Education Reform Now | $120,561 | $218,565 |
| Other + Related Organizations | $34,265 | $46,764 |
| Total | $156,826 | $265,329 |
(All figures above come from ERN’s IRS 990 forms from 2009 and 2010.)
ERN’s previous three IRS 990 listed only three board members: John Petry, Sidney Hawkins and Joe Williams. John Sabat and Brian Zied were added to the list of board members for 2010. Aside from Williams, none of the other directors received any compensation from ERN.
Much of ERN’s 2010 budget was spent on independent contractors:
On page 10, ERN lists $6,291,057 in expenses on “outside contracting.” The above four contractors account for $5,349,735.
ERN owes $1,643,926 to Students for Education Reform and StudentsFirst.
Charles Ledley loaned ERN $250,000 during 2010.
An audited financial statement notes that ERN “has a fiscal sponsorship agreement with Students First Institute (SFI)”. ERN “will receive all donations and pay all Project expenses on behalf of SFI.” Additionally, ERN “has a fiscal partnership agreement with Students for Education Reform (SFER) and assist them to incorporate as a national 501(c)3 corporation.”
The IRS 990 and audited financial statement include some other spending breakdowns:
Brief notes:
Much of ERN’s spending went to raising the charter school cap in NY state.
Brunno Manno, writing in EducationNext, was either wildly off with his estimate of ERN spending or otherwise mistaken:
In 2010, ERN reported spending $6.6 million in lobbying expenses in New York State, split almost evenly between its (c)(3) and (c)(4), with another $41 million in (c)(3) expenditures directed to organizing and polling expenses, which the state does not consider lobbying.
No idea where that $41 million figure comes from.
Education Reform Now Advocacy’s financial information for 2010 is not yet available.
