Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 1999.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
93 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
27 people listed on the 990; $2.9M paid to officers and key staff.
Mala Batra’s $300K as Chief Executive Off. (till 06/30/25) is at the 12th percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mala Batra | $300,361 | $293,453 | $282,431 | $272,803 | $263,355 | $280,103 |
| Stefan Bean | — | — | — | $279,111 | — | $200,499 |
| Jennifer Garcia | — | — | — | $276,056 | — | $220,310 |
| Mary E Cha-Caswell | $253,042 | $240,904 | $243,253 | $219,013 | $214,169 | — |
| Jeanine Hawk Until Sept 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | $245,507 |
| Mary Cha-Caswell | — | — | — | — | — | $235,094 |
| Michael Wimbish | $232,488 | $226,394 | $218,316 | $202,034 | $122,644 | — |
| Anthony Solina | $230,495 | $225,500 | $210,339 | $194,077 | $185,517 | $201,703 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Aspire Public Schools executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Operates high-quality public charter schools in low-income neighborhoods to prepare underserved students for college and catalyze change in public education.
Questions for Aspire Public Schools
Your first name shows with your question. Aspire Public Schools answers here, for everyone.
Aspire public schools builds and operates high quality public charter schools to prepare students for college. Aspire public schools operates 40 schools serving over 17,000 students.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
Plus 5 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 5 smaller programs.
The auditor reported: a material weakness in money controls.
Plus 5 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 9 smaller programs.
The auditor reported: a weakness in money controls.
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $16.7M | $33.2M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $51K | $51K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $86.9M | $61.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $156.8M | $207.8M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $78.1M | $113.4M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $78.7M | $94.5M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $3.9M | $3.9M | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $9K | $9K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $2.5M | $1.8M | $692K | $27K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $106.1M | $100.9M | $5.0M | $193K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $18.5M | $17.5M | $986K | $31K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1.1M | $1.0M | $51K | $2K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $18.0M | $16.9M | $1.0M | $33K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $1.1M | $899K | $236K | $4K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $298K | $235K | $62K | $1K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $10.4M | $8.2M | $2.2M | $38K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $10.1M | $8.6M | $1.5M | $33K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $3.1M | $2.9M | $223K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $18.5M | $17.2M | $1.3M | |
| TravelLn 17 | $67K | $59K | $8K | $270 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $537K | $475K | $61K | $2K |
| InterestLn 20 | $1.1M | $1.1M | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4.5M | $4.3M | $127K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $960K | $892K | $69K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $10.1M | $9.2M | $860K | $23K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $123K | $66K | $57K | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $211.1M | $196.3M | $14.4M | $387K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS May 15, 2026 | $315.4M | $329.9M | −$14.5M | $99.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Jul 17, 2025 | $317.7M | $334.5M | −$16.8M | $114.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS May 15, 2024 | $327.0M | $293.3M | $33.6M | $131.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Oct 15, 2023 | $254.8M | $250.4M | $4.4M | $98.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS Feb 15, 2023 | $233.5M | $211.1M | $22.4M | $94.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS May 17, 2021 | $226.8M | $234.3M | −$7.5M | $78.7M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $233,476,749 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 11 of 11 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $233,476,749 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $211,117,883 across 20 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $207,841,845 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $94,454,160 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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