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 "school board" ...
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No Child Left Behind: A closer look
"'No Child Left Behind: A Closer Look' examines three little-known aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's signature education law." The three part series looks at race, failing schools, and the impact it has had on the "nation's best teachers."
Tags: No Child Left Behind Act; race; San Diego; teachers; schools; education; test scores; loopholes; school boards;
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Broken Trust
"A review of how Florida's education system regulates teachers who physically and sexually abuse their students. The series exposed how failures at every level of government needlessly put children in danger of being abused."
Tags: education; teachers; sexual abuse; students; safety; school board; investigation; sex offenders; harrasment
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Ethics questions follow P'ville BOE dealings
"School board contracts in Pleasantville, NJ were intertwined with officials getting campaign funding and personal jobs from contractors, resulting in conflicts of interest and probable violations of the law."
Tags: board of education; conflict of interest; campaign; city; campaign funding; publicity
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Rough Love
Tranquility Bay, a "behavior modification school" in Jamaica, is a boarding school where parents send their troubled teenagers. But what parents get for their $40,000 yearly tuition is often overly harsh discipline that results in the children being injured and abused. The reported conditions include "no running water, beatings by staff, and being forced to lie in silence, face-down on the floor for hours at a time - over a period of several months." At least six other schools which like Tranquility Bay are affiliated with the Utah-based World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools "have been raided and/or closed during the past decade, following allegations of abuse or questionable practices."
Tags: Tranquility Bay; boarding schools; at-risk youths; troubled teens; child abuse; inmate abuse; World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
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Hillsborough County School District Land Investigation
The ninth largest U.S. school district, Hillsborough County (FL), in 2006 was "growing fast enough to fill five new schools" per year. To meet the demand, Hillsborough county used the services of 4 private real estate brokers, without using bids, in violation of its own regulations. Three of the four brokers have records of criminal, legal and financial problems. Some of those brokers simultaneously represented the sellers, or flipped the land themselves, resulting in land purchases often made substantially above appraisal values. Reporters from the St. Petersburg Times documented swampland purchases, and school sites surrounded by the homes of sexual predators.
Tags: land; school board; school district superintendent; real estate brokers; realtors; swampland; bidding practices; state FOI; land flipping; rezoning applications; condemnation; assessments; appraisals; financial investigations; land records; wetland maps; FBI investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Excel; Matthew B. Cox; Chester B. Luney; Fred Edmister; National Realty Associates; school planning; Wilson-Miller; Florida Real Estate Commission; 2606 East Caracus Land Trust; Laurence E. Fuentes; Fuentes and Kreischer Title Co.; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
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Costly Lesson For New Jersey
Passaic elementary school bought real estate property from "Richard Doren, a reputed organized crime associate and ex-convict." The deal was proposed and encouraged by a board member who owed Doren money. The plot was next to an adult theater and a cut rate hotel. The state also over paid for the property and paid to relocate the tenants.
Tags: real estate; school; downtown property; organized crime; leases; state government; school boards
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Who's at the Wheel
The reporters examined the school bus drivers of Lafayette Parish. They found that the school board did not thoroughly check criminal and driving records after hiring drivers. Consequently, a high number of school bus drivers had criminal records that they acquired after being hired.
Tags: school bus; school board; children; safety; FOI; transportation
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Washington Park School
The I-Team investigated Cincinnati School Board decisions related to the relocation of one inner city public school. The story provides insight into how CPS is managing a billion dollars of new school construction. It revealed problems of student safety, economics, Board incompetence and conflicts of interest. The school board deviated from standard property appraisal procedures, overpaid for the school, located it in Cincinnati's most dangerous area and could have renovated a nearby school for far less money.
Tags: school board; school construction; inner city schools; conflicts of interest; student safety
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School Bus Bloat 2005
For over fourteen months the reporters investigated the Cleveland Municipal School District's transportation department, producing 25 stories. The reports examined extensive waste of resources, mismanagement, and fraudulent use of inflated data. Reporter Tom Merriman used records, surveillance video, and interviews with ex-employees to document the district was inflating rider numbers to get more funding. School administrators blamed the mid-level bureaucrat they fired, but Merriman used internal documents to show he was ordered to inflate the numbers. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of dollars were being spend on luxury coaches for athletes. The investigation lead to the resignation of a top official in the organization.
Tags: Cleveland Municipal School District; transportation; fraud; school buses; Ohio Board of Education; Barbara Byrd Bennett; state transportation funding
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Questionable course
The Star-Telegram reveals how the Fort Worth school district spent $15 million for a largely untested computer math program that the superintendent proclaimed would eliminate the need for qualified math teachers. The program, doubted initially, ultimately fell short of promised achievements, yet superintendent Thomas Tocco charged ahead, blaming teachers, failing to inform the school board of problems, improperly diverting Title 1 money from the program and lobbying Congress to earmark money for the program maker, and persuading other school districts to buy the problematic program. Many educators endorsing the program had financial ties to the company.
Tags: CAR; Title 1; Fort Worth; Congress; Department of Education; Thomas Tocco; I CAN Learn; JRL Enterprises