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 "Texas State School" ...
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America's Great State Payroll Giveaway
A state-employed psychiatrist in California made $822,000 by clocking in 17 hours every day last year, including Sundays and holidays. An employee cashed out with $609,000 for unused vacation when she retired, claiming she never took vacations in a 30-year career. A highway patrol officer collected $484,000 in salary, pension and leave payments. The chief money manager at a Texas pension fund got $1 million in salary and bonuses while posting investment returns that trailed those of peers who earned a quarter as much. Bloomberg News used freedom-of-information laws to obtain 1.4 million payroll records from the 12 largest states and show how taxpayers funded these out-of-control expenses and more, while at the same time states cut funding for universities, public safety, health care, schools and services aimed at the neediest residents.
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Unfair Game
Texas high school athletics rules prohibit students from transferring from district to district for athletic purposes, but that hasn’t stopped coaches and administrators from openly flouting the rules to assemble state championship-caliber teams as part of an underground recruiting system that puts athletics over academics. WFAA investigative reporter Brett Shipp's reports showed how improper recruiting helped Dallas' Kimball Knights build back-to-back state champ basketball teams, and how former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders' new school, Prime Prep Academy, also drew in blue-chip players against the rules.
Tags: High school athletics; sports; coach; recruiting system; state champion team
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Public Service Journalism Via Apps and Interactives
The Texas Tribune uses government records lawmakers, agency chiefs, educators and influential state figures would rather not be public. Projects include a campaign finance database offers a comprehensive, searchable tool to see who's bankrolling their representatives. The public schools database provides extensive access to comparative data on all of Texas' school districts.
Tags: data; government; statistics
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The Texas
Mentally disabled residents of a school in Texas were forced to be a part of a “fight club” run at night. The brutality of this was highly disturbing and it terrified these residents. Many of them tried to leave, but the staff members continuously forced them back and continued the abuse. Since all this information was revealed, these former staff members have been found guilty of felony charges of injury to the mentally ill and face time in prison.
Tags: mental health care; system; Texas State School; Corpus Christi; brawl; battle; struggle; state government; state facilities; civil rights
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Football Coaches Hitting Pay Dirt
High school football coaches in the state of Texas are well-compensated. The Morning News examines the salaries of coaches including Ennis' Sam Harrell, whose $106,044 yearly salary vastly eclipses the average teacher's at his school, which is $42,766.
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In the Dark
This series of stories investigates the questionable success of the state's power program. The program would not reveal much information concerning customers, profits and its relationship to Reliant Energy Solutions--the program's sole contract. Public entities that could take advantage of the program because it supposedly supports a school fund, find upon research that the program does not give them the best deal. An internal audit showed that the program often exaggerated numbers.
Tags: gas; electricity; power; Texas general land office; state power program; FOIA; Reliant energy; energy; school
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School Scandals, Children Left Behind: Cheating in Texas Schools
This series of articles began with an examination of one school district in Dallas. The reporters found that the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District was riddled with problems, including shredded documents, vanishing funds, unpaid salaries, and stolen property. The Wilmer- Hutchins stories also exposed some discrepancies in state assessment test scores. The reporters did a statewide data analysis of test scores and found that similar discrepancies, and the cheating that produces them, occurred throughout the state.
Tags: cheating; Wilmer-Hutchins; Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills; Thaddeus Lott; Texas Education Agency; standardized tests; No Child Left Behind
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Show and Tell Tape #1
2004 IRE National Conference (Atlanta) Show and Tell Tape #1 features the following stories: 1)Phil Williams (WTVF-Nashville) A hidden camera investigation proves that special interest lobbyists are buying Tennessee lawmakers. 2)Stephen Stock (WESH-Orlando) An investigation into new home inspections found inspectors conducting too many inspections daily with a passing rate as high as 99 percent in one county. 3)Anna Werner and David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) Children as young as 11-years-old were being physically abused at the juvenile probation department in Harris County, Texas. 4)Tony Pipitone (WKMG-Orlando)The Brevard School District in Orlando requested additional funding from the federal government for poorer schools but put that money toward helping the district as a whole. 5)Brian Collister (WOAI-San Antonio) A national report claimed that San Antonio police were among the best in the country for not targeting minority motorists, but an investigation proved police officers skewed the data. 6) Jacqueline McLean (KGMB-Honolulu) A cemetery that hasn't been licensed in nine years makes room for more bodies by removing old ones. 7) Chris Halsne (KIRO-Seattle) Mapping software found 605 sex offenders living near day cares statewide. None of the day cares were ever notified. 8) Bog Segall (WITI-Milwaukee) Many inmates use their phone privileges to call their victims, intimidating them in the hopes they won't show up at trial. 9)Larry Posner (Inside Edition) An investigation into Pitts, one of the largest door-to-door magazine sellers in the country, found the company charging high rates, abusing employees and hiring felons. 10)Randy Travis (WAGA-Atlanta) This undercover investigation found a state court judge having 19 drinks and then getting in his car to drive. 11)Jim Strickland (WSB-Atlanta) This investigation exposed forgery and fraud by an Atlanta Booting company. 12)Bebe Emerman (KIRO-Seattle) A problem with the powercord of one brand of oscillating fans was linked to 20 house fires. 13)Elisabeth Leamy (WTTG) This story discusses the lives of those held in concentration camps and the Nazi tattoos they received.
Tags: tape; show and tell; investigative; Atlanta; no transcripts; IRE
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Betrayal of Trust
The Morning News uncovers hundreds of Texas school teachers who, despite being previously disciplined for sexual infractions, currently teach in the states' schools. The story, which was a 3-day series, was cited in the Texas legislature during debate on a bill which aimed to make sex between older teens and educators illegal.
Tags: Education; criminal records; teachers; sexual infractions
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Schools buy technology beyond current needs; Schools lag in integrating technology
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram found that "money that the federal and state governments provided to help schools connect to the Internet has brought few benefits to Texas public schools."
Tags: schools; education; Internet; technology; Texas public schools; networks