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 busing" ...
-
Bus-ted
The story reveals a number of things about a school district’s bus system. Some of the things revealed are school buses breaking traffic laws, and extensive records of the bus drivers, including traffic violations and speeding tickets. Once the findings were revealed, the school district wasn’t sure who hired them and the school district allowed them to be bus drivers as long as the insurance companies approved them.
Tags: Cedar Rapids Public School District; school administration; education; transportation; children; kids; Denny Schreckengast; Matt Dunbar
-
Curse of the Class of 2006
This story explains how the class of 2006 became known as the “cursed class” due to the number of deaths during and following the 2006 school year. The school, Carol City Senior High, was one of the best based on the facility and placed in a location still considered farmland. But after students were bused in from surrounding neighborhoods, things began to change and academics fell to the back burner, while athletics excelled. Further, many students believed the atmosphere became very ghetto, which led to several deaths from the class of 2006, who were considered top students.
Tags: education; high school; public; murders; death; violence; Florida; violent; neighborhood; area
-
Houston Texas Bus Safety
This story looks at two bus crashes in Texas to determine how companies are regulated. It also looks at how Houston operators who cater to Hispanic, working-class passengers are allowed to operate, some illegally, despite poor safety records and questionable licensing.
Tags: buses; public safety; driving records; racial discrimination; bus crashes; chameleon carrier; driving offenses;
-
Broken Buses
This series of investigations revealed serious, recurring and widespread safety violations involving hundreds of school buses used to transport nearly 20,000 children to Indianapolis-area schools, and the expanded to show critical safety problems affecting thousands of buses in school districts across Indiana. The investigation exposed problems not only with the school buses, but also identified gaping deficiencies in the Indiana State Police bus inspection program. It triggered immediate and dramatic action, prompted Indiana's largest school districts to call for more stringent oversight and more frequent inspections and provided parents with a hands-on tool to monitor the safety history of their children's school buses.
Tags: buses; public transportation; public safety; safety violations; school buses; investigation
-
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;
-
Hurricane Rita Bus Fire
A story about a bus fire that killed 23 nursing home patients evacuated in advance of Hurricane Rita, and the ensuing investigation into the safety and regulation of charter buses.
Tags: Hurricane Rita; public safety; Department of Transportation; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; FEMA; FOIA
-
Port Authority Waste
WTAE-TV reports on Allegheny County port authority's extravagant spending. At times of budget woes, when the agency had to cut bus routes and raise fares for the poorest segment of the community, its executives "were treating themselves with trips to Europe; gifts of silver, crystal and perfume for board members and contractors; and overnight stays in hotels with room rates of more than $300 per night."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; transportation; buses; trains; expense vouchers; public records; audits; Pennsylvania Right to Know Act
-
Who's driving the bus?
WITI found that because of a gaping hole in state law, murderers, sex offenders, drug dealers, and other convicted felons are legally driving Wisconsin school buses.
Tags: Department of Transportation; Wisconsin Supreme Court; bus drivers; criminal background; Milwaukee Public Schools; TAPE; TV; TRANSCRIPT; CAR
-
The Buses Don't Stop Here Anymore
The American Prospect looks at the deteriorating quality of mass transit in America. The reporter points to statistics that show that fewer and fewer people use public transportation. "The falloff in bus ridership, which is much steeper than that in train ridership, is directly linked to declines in bus service," the Prospect reports. The story examines how some cities have revived and expanded their transit systems and ridership despite suburban sprawl. Others have cut off transit service on all but the most cost-effective routes, thus reducing the value of the transit system.
Tags: suburbs; Chicago Transit Authority; Regional Transit Administration; urban development; commuter rail model; Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority; Boston; Seattle; Toronto; subway; trains; buses; railroads
-
Some Airlines Mishandle Food, Sewage Disposal
"Some of the country's biggest airlines and in-flight caterers have violated federal health regulations of food storage and sewage handling, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration records. So far this year, the agency has sent six 'warning letters' about violations to carriers including Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Continental Airlines - twice the number send during the same period in 1997." Trains and buses are also discussed.