The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Charter Schools" ...
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Charters Go Off Course
An investogation of why charter schools in Ohio are still failing to meet the goal of the state's annual report card, based largely on mandatory proficiency test results.
Tags: Charter Schools
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King High Charter Controversy
The King Charter stories reveal that two public officials- Dwight Evans, a state legislator, and Robert Archie, chair of the city's school governance board- collaborated on a secret campaign to steer a lucrative charter school contract to a politically connected private contractor.
Tags: Charter Schools
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Vitalistic Therapeutic Charter School
The story focused on an obscure 10-year-old charter school in Bethlehem, Pa that taught mostly poor, mentally disabled and minority students through curriculum laden with intensive mental health therapy.
Tags: Vitalistic Therapeautic Charter School; taxpayer; education funds; Bethlehem
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Sink or Swim: Mavericks High Schools claim to help trouble students, but questions persist about their quest for profits from taxpayer money
The investigation reveals that the for-profit charter school Mavericks in Education Florida drive for profit conflicts with the company's mission of helping at-risk kids graduate from high school. Maverick's graduation rates are abysmal, former employees allege its attendance records and grades are falsified, and the schcools receive "incomplete" grades from the Florida Department of Education. Using taxpayer funds, the company is promising thousands of kinds an education that it does not deliver.
Tags: high school; mavericks; falsified; grades; frank biden
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No Choice: Florida Charter Schools Failing to Serve Students with Disabilities
While Florida law says schools aren't allowed to turn kids away because it's too expensive to educate them, there is a loophole. The law says students with severe disabilities can only go to schools that provide the services they need. However, the investigation finds that most Florida charter schools do not offer those services.
Tags: mental disabilties; disability; loophole
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Renaissance 2010: Searching for Equity
Karps' investigation looked into the the impact of Renaissance 2010, an education initiative in Chicago intended to "open 100 new schools, most of the charter schools, and close 70 failing schools within a span of six years" in an effort to bring better education to areas that needed it most. This investigation looks at the actual results of the plan. To report the story, Karp had to struggle against the barriers to obtaining meaningful information on charter schools. While funded publicly, they are operated by private companies that are not subject to the same transparency laws as public schools.
Tags: education; charter schools; public schools; academic performance; FOIA; transparency; Renaissance 2010; Chicago
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The high price of Rutgers sports
For a decade, Rutgers Univeristy pushed hard to become a college football powerhouse. But a six-month investigation of Rutgers athletics -- including a new review of public records the university fought to keep confidential -- found big-time college football came at a greater price than the school disclosed and still refuses to fully document. The investigation found that Rutgers has hiked tuition, canceled classes and eliminated six other varsity sports while doubling its football spending budget; hid millions of sports expenses, including salaries and charter flights, from public view; rushed into a $102 million expansion of Rutgers Stadium to retain coach Greg Schiano and refused to reveal several other financial and fundraising efforts.
Tags: Rutgers University; college football; financial records; private universities; expense reports; stadiums
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Charter School Investigation
Charter schools were created to bring educational innovation. Instead, some operators used the schools for private gain. Findings of this Philadelphia Inquirer series include high salaries that surpassed what was paid to district superintendents; operators collecting multiple salaries; operators hiring unqualified family members at high salaries; operators creating other entities to do business with the charter so they could collect additional funds; operators acting as charter school landlords and using the money to buy property for other businesses; operators running a charter through a for-profit company that gets all revenue and keeps the surplus.
Tags: charter schools; public education; school reform; charter school law; fraud; Philadelphia Academy; private gain
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Ghost Schools
Charter high schools operated by for-profit corporations are experiencing the nation's worst rates of rampant absenteeism with many campuses reporting daily truancy rates of more than 50 percent of student enrollment. The investigation found that some school officials have learned it's a profitable business model to be paid millions of tax dollars not to teach kids who don't show up. The trend is worst in Ohio.
Tags: education; charter school; absenteeism; student; enrollment; school funding
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Charter Schools: Missing the Grade
Many of Florida's "300-plus, tax-supported charter schools have escaped the primary accountability measures that regular public schools in Florida must abide by." These schools often do worse than the public schools and to have financial problems.
Tags: school; education; charter school; public school; tax funding; performance; students; finance; Florida