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 "unqualified" ...
-
Outsourcing Safety: Boeing Jets Repairs in El Salvador
KIRO Team 7 investigators travel to El Salvador, uncovering a series of safety lapses at a Boeing jet maintenance facility. We found unqualified $2 an hour mechanics, the use of broken parts, failures to properly connect electrical wiring inside aircraft and the hiring of a work force that had trouble reading English-only Boeing jet repair manuals. This team of reporters also uncovered the locations of where major U.S. carriers take their jets out of the country for repair (Guadalajara, Taipei, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Beijing, Mexico City and Guatemala).
Tags: Boeing; jets; broken parts; U.S. carriers
-
Risky business; Bus safety an issue for colleges
The investigation found that "at least 85 Division I universities used charter bus companies during 2007 and 2008 with deficient federal safety ratings." Further, "about 35 have used companies with an overall conditional rating, which mean they have a more serious record of infractions." A number of things contributed to account for the companies’ bad safety records, these includes crashes, speeding tickets, unqualified drivers, and worn out vehicles.
Tags: FOIA; athletics; athletic department; transportation; sports; teams; travel; inspections; operations
-
"Safety for Sale"
The Federal Aviation Administration is under fire after WFAA-TV reveals that thousands of aircraft mechanics licensed by the FAA, had "questionable" training. The poor training and slow reaction by the FAA could be connected to two deadly airplane crashes. The series also revealed that repair facilities hired foreign mechanics through "immigration loopholes" who were unqualified and often could not speak English.
Tags: FAA; Federal Aviation Administration; diploma mills; U.S. aircraft mechanics; mechanic training; foreign mechanics;
-
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
-
A Question of Care
"The reporters found that in the most recent 18 months, at least five children died in child-care facilities and 13 children received injuries serious enough to prompt the closing of the facility. It also discovered homes cited for housing too many children, having unqualified providers and failed to meet other minimum standards of care."
Tags: open records; FOIA; Department of Human Services; children; nursery school; day care
-
A Natural Question
Organic food costs consumers extra, sometimes twice as much or more than the "normal" equivalent. This expenditure is justified by the idea that organic foods are healthier. Yet, a Dallas Morning News investigation found that "some organic farmers and plant workers cheat. For example, they spray banned chemicals on their crop, or they raise animals using methods contrary to organic rules." Also, the organizations intended to certify the organic providers sometimes "bend the rules, or they're just woefully unqualified to enforce them." Overseas operations also raise concerns, as they export organic foods, but the USDA is unable to monitor these exports well, and cannot enforce violations.
Tags: Organic foods; organic imports/exports; organic farmers; organic products
-
Land Condemnation: Who Pays the Price?
The investigation focuses on Kentucky's system of acquiring land for highway construction which wastes millions of dollars in public funds, is often performed by biased and unqualified surveyors, and efforts which have failed to change the system over the last three decades.
Tags: Federal Highway Administration; Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet; FOIA; public funds; highway construction; land condemnation
-
Pre-K Scandal
This investigation exposed abuse of a taxpayer-funded pre-kindergarten for poor and limited English proficiency children. The principal of one of the pre-kindergartens enrolled her own daughter in the program even though she made too much money to qualify as did thirty-four school district employees who also enrolled their children in it. Many of the schools had waiting lists with needy kids who were denied access because unqualified children were enrolled.
Tags: preschool; pre-kindergarten; education; low income programs; San Antonio Independent School District; SAISD
-
The Price of Becoming American
This article focuses on immigrants who have fallen victim to the scam of hiring unqualified and corrupt "consultants" to help them with all of the paperwork to attain U.S. citizenship.
Tags: immigration; naturalization; INS; residency; fraud
-
A Failure to Protect: Maryland's Troubled Group Homes
About 2,700 youths live in 330 privately-run group homes in Maryland. Although the state licenses, funds and supposedly regulates the homes, it fails to adequately protect the interests of children or of the taxpayers who are paying for their care. Children suffer abuse and neglect in the absence of strong state oversight. Regulators often license unqualified operators and then rely largely on them to police themselves. Some owners collect high salaries, enjoy expensive perks and reward friends and relatives with lucrative jobs or contracts, all paid for by the state.
Tags: group homes; Department of Human Resources; Evershine Residential Services; Social Services; bureaucracy; Office for Children; Youth and Families; children