A number of charter schools that rely on donations from a charity started by Walmart's founder are questioning whether they should continue accepting the funds in the wake of the Newtown shooting.
The Walton Family Foundation, established by Sam Walton, has given more money to charter schools than any other private donor, Businessweek reports. But some of those schools are reconsidering whether they should take money from a foundation made up of family members who own more than 48 percent of Walmart, which sells more guns than any other retailer in the U.S.
The New Media Middle School in Columbus, Ohio –- which has gotten $250,000 in gifts from the foundation -- is one such charter school that doesn’t know if accepting the funds is ethically responsible after a gunman took the lives of 20 students and six faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month.
“It’s a dilemma,” Principal Andrew Sweigard told Businessweek. “It’s a moral issue. Can we take funding from a company that is linked to a potential disaster in our school? Do we want to associate ourselves with guns?”
Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg declined to address the pointed concerns raised by charter schools, Businessweek reported.
Also listed in the article, besides that Ohio charter school, are a charter school in Chicago and a soup kitchen in Arizona. The soup kitchen actually received more donations BECAUSE they declined the donation from Walmart.
All the shootings (at least 53 in 2012!) and gun-related crimes (at least 21 other incidents in 2012) that happen at Walmart stores certainly seem to lend credence to the idea that Walmart's pro-gun stance is destructive to their mission.
Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
