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 "Chicago Public Schools" ...
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Campus Security
ChicagoTalks reporters found only a handful of the 63 colleges and universities in Cook County are following an Illinois law -- the Campus Security Enhancement Act of 2008 (SB 2691) -- aimed to make campuses safe. Under the law, colleges and universities are required to create all-hazard emergency and violence prevention plans, along with threat assessment teams and violence prevention committees. The schools are also required to hold annual security trainings. ChicagoTalks reporters contacted, often repeatedly, every public and private, two and four-year college and university in Cook County, and determined that 11 schools appear to be violating the law, while 45 schools provided conflicting or incomplete information -- or no information at all. Reporters found just seven schools in compliance.
Tags: campus security; Cook County; violence prevention; colleges; universities
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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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"Childhood Lead Poisoning Rates in Chicago"
In this three-part series, Matthew Hendrickson examines the factors that contribute to lead poisoning in Chicago children. He finds that most children who are affected come from low-income families and that many are at risk for health problems down the road. In Chicago, children are not required to have a blood test until they start school, so early detection of lead poisoning is rare.
Tags: Public Health Department; Chicago; childhood lead-poisoning protection program; Tony Amato;
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Reaching Black Boys
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) had the highest suspension rate out of the country's 10 largest school districts. Many of those suspended were young black men. This came at a time when Arne Duncan, CEO of CPS, said he aimed to close the achievement gap. Depriving black students of valuable class time due to suspensions seemed contradictory to the goal.
Tags: CPS; Chicago; Schools; black; arne duncan; suspension; classroom; expulsion; achievement gap; role models; african; school district;
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Class of 2011
An examination on Chicago's Marshall High, a school with a history of troubles, found that the school threatened to derail the success of the Chicago Public Schools' $80 million project to overhaul failing schools.
Tags: absentee; school registration; teaching; education; elementary; secondary education;
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No Relief in Sight
The authors investigated the overcrowding in elementary schools in the Chicago area. Despite Chicago Public Schools spending $680 million dollars since 1995 to ease the situation, little has changed with one in four schools meeting the district's criteria for not being overcrowded.
Tags: Education; elementary schools; overcrowding; Chicago Public Schools
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Gold in Educators' Unused Sick Days
This investigation uncovered a provision in Chicago public school principals that allows them to save up unused sick days to cash in upon retirement. Not only can they collect up to 315 days of unused sick pay, but 244 of those can also be used as service time to increase their pension.
Tags: education; salary; teachers union; school board; retirement; pension plan
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Suspensions Up in CPS
This analysis found that Chicago elementary schools are cracking down on discipline problems by suspending more and more students, most of them African-American.
Tags: Chicago public schools; incident reports; school board; expulsions; education; suspension.
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East St. Louis Test Cheating
This series of stories documented how the East St. Louis School District deliberately excluded nearly 160 special needs students from required standardized tests to boost overall school test scores. This represented a major violation of state and federal laws governing the provision of services for the disabled.
Tags: East St. Louis School District; special education; testing; cheating; standardized tests; Illinois Standards Achievement Test; No Child Left Behind; test scores; Illinois State Board of Education; Prairie State Achievement Exam; Chicago Public Schools; Illinois Standards Achievement Test; U.S. Education Department; Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
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Swing Districts Favored Over Minority Areas
Chicago Reporter looks at how "$780 million was doled out of Illinois over the past two years." The money was portion of the $12-billion Illinois Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools and Transportation (FIRST), the story reveals. The millions were given to political party leaders to spend on projects aimed to boost legislators in politically vulnerable districts. Lawmakers in white districts received more than those in black and Latino districts, the publication reports. A major finding is that, at the time when Illinois entered a fiscal crisis, the "decisions about who got the money and for what projects were settled behind closed doors, without public oversight."
Tags: Illinois public records law; economy; public infrastructure; money and politics; Illinois House; Illinois Senate; voters; state government; state legislature; minorities; civil rights; CAR