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 "Public 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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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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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
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Learning to Leave
"An in-depth examination of where Denver's children ages 5 to 17 are enrolled in school. The newspaper partnered with Denver Public Schools and a local foundation to provide the first data on the impact of school choice in Colorado on the states most urban school district."
Tags: school; district; zoning; busing; enrollment; Denver; commute; minorities; charter schools;
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Fault Found in Scoring of Ohio Schools
"The success of nearly 40 Ohio schools - mostly charters- is inflated by a hidden default in how the state measures them. An analysis by The Repository found that some 30 charter schools and five public schools in Ohio got the state's third-highest designation - 'continuous improvement' - not because of student achievement but because of the state's measure, adapted from federal guidelines, of 'adequate yearly progress.'"
Tags: education; school; standardized tests; state politics; beat reporting; assessment; students; teachers
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Overhead Saps Cash at Most Imagine Charter Schools
Using audit records, reporters at the Orlando Sentinel discovered charter schools struggling with management fees and overhead costs. The schools, which are operated by one of the largest school-management companies, Imagine Schools Inc., ended up spending fifty percent less on instruction per student than any of the neighboring public schools. In general, the charter schools "were posting a lower percentage of A's and B's on the annual school grades than the Osceola and Lake districts." While the state recommends that districts keep a positive balance of 2-7 percent to cover emergency expenses, charter schools have no rule of thumb to go by and are millions of dollars in the red.
Tags: Imagine Schools Inc.; charter schools; school management; cost per student; audits; Lake County; Osceola County
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Classroom Confidential
This set of four stories looks at some major problems at the public Charter Schools in the Dallas area. The reports discovered problems with the time cards, teachers qualifications, school expenses and rampant cheating on state exams. Shortly after this aired, the DA's office began an investigation on the schools.
Tags: Public schools; Dallas public schools; FOIA; Federal Department of Education; Public Charter Schools
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Desk Sergeants. Tesseract and others march briskly ahead in school privatization.
According to the article, "As the outcry over public schools grows louder, the emerging education-management industry, after a fitful, controversial start, is shaking up notions about what a public school is and how it should be run." This article talks about charter schools and how they are becoming increasingly popular.
Tags: education; schools; charter schools; public schools; education-management industry