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Crackdown on Student Threats

A Tennessee School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of 11-Year-Old Student Arrested Under School Threats Law

Under the settlement, the Chattanooga charter school also agreed to implement training on how to handle threats of mass violence at school, including differentiating between “clearly innocuous statements” and “imminent” violence.

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School

The legislation comes after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that even though state law bans schools from fining students directly, districts skirt the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.

Texas Lawmakers Want a Charter School Network to Stop Paying Its Superintendent Nearly $900K. The School Board Says No.

The rebuke from lawmakers and charter school leaders came after an investigation from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that Salvador Cavazos, who oversees fewer than 1,000 students, is among the most well-paid superintendents in the country.

Series

279 stories published since 2015

A Tennessee School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of 11-Year-Old Student Arrested Under School Threats Law

Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School

A Teacher Dragged a 6-Year-Old With Autism by His Ankle. Federal Civil Rights Officials Might Not Do Anything.

The Department of Education Forced Idaho to Stop Denying Disabled Students an Education. Then Trump Gutted Its Staff.

Help Us Report on How the Department of Education Is Handling Civil Rights Cases

A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda: Roll Back Civil Rights Cases, Target Transgender Students

Idaho Gave Families $50M to Spend on Private Education. Then It Ended a $30M Program Used by Public School Families.

In An Era of Big Money, the University of Illinois Shrugs Off Rules on Athletes’ NIL Deals

A Texas School Board Cut State-Approved Textbook Chapters About Diversity. A Board Member Says Material Violated the Law

A University, a Rural Town and Their Fight to Survive Trump’s War on Higher Education

How Texas Conservatives Use At-Large School Board Elections to Influence What Students Learn

Parents Sue Trump Administration for Allegedly Sabotaging Education Department’s Civil Rights Division

Texas Lawmakers Want a Charter School Network to Stop Paying Its Superintendent Nearly $900K. The School Board Says No.

Inside the Schools Alaska Ignored

Massive Layoffs at the Department of Education Erode Its Civil Rights Division

Two Transgender Girls, Six Federal Agencies. How Trump Is Trying to Pressure Maine Into Obedience.

She’s on a Scholarship at a Tribal College in Wisconsin. The Trump Administration Suspended the USDA Grant That Funded It.

This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students.

A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse.

Illinois Has Virtually No Homeschooling Rules. A New Bill Aims to Change That.

Education Department “Lifting the Pause” on Some Civil Rights Probes, but Not for Race or Gender Cases

“We’ve Been Essentially Muzzled”: Department of Education Halts Thousands of Civil Rights Investigations Under Trump

A New Mexico District Says It’s Reduced Harsh Discipline of Native Students. But the Data Provided Is Incomplete.

Idaho Passed $2 Billion in Funding for School Building Repairs. It’s Not Nearly Enough.

Elon Musk’s Team Decimates Education Department Arm That Tracks National School Performance

The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students

First Came the Warning Signs. Then a Teen Opened Fire on a Nashville School.

Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School

In the Wild West of School Voucher Expansions, States Rely on Untested Companies, With Mixed Results

How Many Students Have Been Expelled Under Tennessee’s School Threats Law? There’s No Clear Answer.

How Segregated Are Your Local Private Schools? We Made a Tool to Help You Find Out.

ProPublica Releases New Private School Demographics Lookup

Private School Demographics

On a Mission From God: Inside the Movement to Redirect Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Private Religious Schools

Two Families Sue After 11-Year-Old and 13-Year-Old Students Were Arrested Under Tennessee’s School Threat Law

Feds Fine Baker College $2.5 Million for Deceptive Marketing That Left Students With Debts and Regrets

Arizona Regulators Closed a Failing Charter School. It Reopened as a Private Religious School Funded by Taxpayers.

The Story of One Mississippi County Shows How Private Schools Are Exacerbating Segregation

Illinois’ AG Said It’s Illegal for Schools to Use Police to Ticket Students. But His Office Told Only One District.

Segregation Academies in Mississippi Are Benefiting From Public Dollars, as They Did in the 1960s

Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars

A 13-Year-Old With Autism Got Arrested After His Backpack Sparked Fear. Only His Stuffed Bunny Was Inside.

Despite Trump’s Win, School Vouchers Were Again Rejected by Majorities of Voters

An 11-Year-Old Denied Making a Threat and Was Allowed to Return to School. Tennessee Police Arrested Him Anyway.

Tribal College Campuses Are Falling Apart. The U.S. Hasn’t Fulfilled Its Promise to Fund the Schools.

In a State With School Vouchers for All, Low-Income Families Aren’t Choosing to Use Them

We Enlisted a Community to Help Us Report on One State’s Crumbling Schools. Here’s How You Can Do the Same.

In an Unprecedented Move, Ohio Is Funding the Construction of Private Religious Schools

Georgia’s Top GOP Lawmaker Seeks Tougher Action Against Students Who Make Threats. But It May Not Make Schools Safer.

School District With Highest Student Arrest Rate in the Nation Agrees to Reform How It Disciplines Disabled Students

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

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Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

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Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

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Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

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    One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.

    Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs

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    What Exactly Is the War Powers Act and Is Obama Really Violating It?

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    “Delay, Interfere, Undermine:” How El Salvador’s Government Impeded a U.S. Probe of MS-13

    President Donald Trump has praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as a crime fighter, but new reporting based on interviews and documents reveals how senior Salvadoran officials have impeded a U.S. investigation of the MS-13 gang.

    Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

    In the wake of ballot measures that increased abortion access and improved sick leave for workers, a coordinated effort is unfolding across the country to restrict direct democracy — and shift power to partisan legislatures.