The Knowledge is Power Program is a CMO network (Buras, 2015, p. 155). Former employees at Teach for America, also a charter management organization, created the Knowledge is Power Program in 1995 (Angrist, 2011, p. 1). KIPP receives its funds both in public and private sectors; millions of dollars have been granted to KIPP by the Fischer, Walton, Gates, and Broad Foundations (Buras, 2015, p. 155). The public and private funding, enabled KIPP to renovate the previous, Douglass high school, building; this was met with some push back from community members (Buras, 2015, p. 155). The push back likely stemmed from one of Vallas’s comments in 2008 that attempted to justify the closure of Douglass as a result of inadequate funding within the RSD to renovate the school (Buras, 2015, p. 153). This comment is misleading though, given that, there were other schools in more dire conditions than Douglass, located in more affluent areas that were going to be supported by those schools “master planners.” (Buras, 2015, p. 153). 

Former employees at Teach for America, also a charter management organization, created the Knowledge is Power Program in 1995 (Angrist, 2011, p. 1). KIPP’s approach to education is based on 5 pillars: 

1. High Expectations – hones in on KIPP’s regulation of its students behavior and conduct 
2. Choice and Commitment – KIPP is a school choice option, so it’s assumed that once accepted/enrolled in a KIPP school system, the students will fully buy into the philosophy of the school and dedication to the work it entails
3. More Time – KIPP school days/years are longer than the typical public school
4. Power to Lead – due to the added flexibility of a charter school, KIPP’s school leaders/employees have more leniency and independence with staffing and budgetary pursuits
5. Focus and Results – which denotes KIPP’s significant utility of standardized tests (Angrist, 2011, P. 3)