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 safety" ...
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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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CHE: Scientists Shilling for Beef Industry
Agriculture school scientists are singing the praises of drugs that supersize beef cattle-- even though the resulting meat is tough and tasteless. The drugs' effects on animal health, human health, and the environment are even less appetizing. Guess who is sponsoring their research.
Tags: agriculture; beef cattle; meat; animal health; food safety
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Unsafe, Unsound: School Construction Safety In Colorado
The Denver Post's series examined several failures that led to closure, for safety concerns, of a new $18.9 million elementary school in rural Northwestern Colorado town of Meeker- and the broader implications for school construction in the state. The DP demonstrated that the design-and-build firm made a series of mistakes and fought back when questioned, that a state official missed a glaring error in reviewing the project, and that the local school board allowed children to attend classes in the building for months, despite being warned about structural deficiencies.
Tags: elementary schools; construction; meeker; colorado; school officials; structural integrity
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On Shaky Ground
An investigation that uncovered systemic breakdowns in the way the California state enforces seismic safety standards during public school construction.
Tags: seismology; public; school; construction; california; safety; standards; earthquake;
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On Shaky Ground
"A 19-month investigation uncovers systemic breakdowns in the way the state enforces seismic safety standards during public school construction."
Tags: oversight; seismic safety; construction; school safety; earthquakes
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Keeping Your Children Safe
The series reveals danger every parent should know about from common every day products and activities.
Tags: danger; child safety; escalator; lost child; school zone
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School Buses Flunk
The safety inspections of 30,000 Connecticut school buses showed that one in four buses was unfit to carry children, yet state officials ignored this issue.
Tags: school bus; safety; schools; inspection; vehicle
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Failing our Athletes: The Sad State of Sports in Boston Public Schools
This series examined the state of athletics in the Boston public school district. The amount of problems discovered was both shocking and disappointing. Some of the discovered problems were the program was “underfunded compared to cities of similar size, staffing problems, poor facilities, safety of the athletes, and competency of many coaches”.
Tags: children; kids; sports; games; education; student-athletes; court; field; season; players; uniforms; city government
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Dodging Dart
“Des Moines Area Regional Transit travels 3.7 million miles a year”. Many people use the system to travel back and forth to work and school. These people haven’t had bad experiences, but fear for the pedestrians coming in the way of the bus. There have been “at least seven people hit by the bus in a little more than two years”. Little has been done to make the streets safer because it is difficult, when hiring, to set criteria for them.
Tags: buses; downtown; Brad Miller; drivers; transportation; collisions; safety; accidents; route
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Trouble on the Tray
This series found problems in the federal, state, and local programs that supplied food to the nation’s schoolchildren. Some of the major findings: beef supplied for school lunches wouldn’t pass at national fast-food restaurants, chicken found at schools is only quality enough for pet food, supplied recalled beef to schools, failed to inform schools of bad tortillas, and many schools lacked the two inspections per year.
Tags: Food safety; Schoolchildren; Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Schools; Cafeteria; Government; Lunch; Beef; Children; Food; Bad food; E. coli