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Education

Inside Our Schools

280 stories published since 2015

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

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

The Unequal Effects of School Closings

by Alec MacGillis,

A 10-Year-Old Pointed a Finger Gun. The Principal Kicked Him Out of His Tennessee School for a Year.

by Aliyya Swaby,

“Cookie & Zo’e”: A Georgia Family Wrestles With School Choice 60 Years After Desegregation

by Liz Moughon and Almudena Toral,

Cookie & Zo’e: A Georgia Family Wrestles With School Choice 60 Years After the Start of Desegregation

by Liz Moughon,

In a Town Full of Segregation Academies, One Black Family Grapples With the Best School Choice for Their Daughter

by Jennifer Berry Hawes, photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

Neglect at Boarding School for Autistic Youth Left a Student With Vision Loss, Lawsuit Alleges

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget.

by Eli Hager,

Two Reporters Covering Education in the Midwest Followed the Money … to a School in New York

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

Conservatives Go to War — Against Each Other — Over School Vouchers

by Alec MacGillis,

These Researchers Study the Legacy of the Segregation Academies They Grew Up Around

by Jennifer Berry Hawes,

Texas Is the Largest GOP Stronghold Without Pro-School Voucher Legislation. Gov. Abbott Is on a Crusade to Change That.

by Jeremy Schwartz,

Three States Have Warned Against Sending Students to an Unregulated Boarding School for Youth With Autism

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

How Illinois’ Hands-Off Approach to Homeschooling Leaves Children at Risk

by Molly Parker and Beth Hundsdorfer, Capitol News Illinois,

An Illinois School District’s Reliance on Police to Ticket Students Is Discriminatory, Civil Rights Complaint Says

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

New York Education Department Hindered an Abuse Investigation at Boarding School for Autistic Youth

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

How an Alabama Town Staved Off School Resegregation

by Jennifer Berry Hawes,

After Decades, Voters Finally OK Replacement for Crumbling Idaho School

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman,

How Residents in a Rural Alabama County Are Confronting the Lasting Harm of Segregation Academies

by Jennifer Berry Hawes, photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

Ticketed at School as a Teen, a Young Black Woman Is Suing an Illinois City for Violating Her Civil Rights

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

“I Refuse to Be Told What to Do”: Facebook Posts Show a Conservative School Board Member Rejecting Extremism

by Jeremy Schwartz,

Segregation Academies Still Operate Across the South. One Town Grapples With Its Divided Schools.

by Jennifer Berry Hawes, photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

Illinois School Districts Sent Kids to a For-Profit Out-of-State Facility That Isn’t Vetted or Monitored

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

Help ProPublica and The Texas Tribune Report on School Board and Bond Elections in Your Community

by Jessica Priest, Jeremy Schwartz, Lexi Churchill and Dan Keemahill,

Former Far-Right Hard-Liner Says Billionaires Are Using School Board Races to Sow Distrust in Public Education

by Jeremy Schwartz,

She Campaigned for a Texas School Board Seat as a GOP Hard-Liner. Now She’s Rejecting Her Party’s Extremism.

by Jeremy Schwartz,

This School for Autistic Youth Can Cost $573,200 a Year. It Operates With Little Oversight, and Students Have Suffered.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

Tennessee Is Ramping Up Penalties for Student Threats. Research Shows That’s Not the Best Way to Keep Schools Safe.

by Aliyya Swaby,

The Influential Conservative Group Making it Harder for Idaho Districts to Fix Their Schools

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman,

Idaho Legislature Approves $2 Billion for Schools to Repair and Replace Aging Buildings

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman,

Help ProPublica Report on Education

by Ken Armstrong, Jennifer Berry Hawes, Nicole Carr, Jodi S. Cohen, Asia Fields, Eli Hager, Alec MacGillis, Jeremy Schwartz, Jennifer Smith Richards and Aliyya Swaby,

Liberty University Hit With Record Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes

by Eric Umansky,

Idaho Resolution Would Aim to Lower Voting Threshold to Pass School Bonds

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, and Asia Fields, ProPublica,

Idaho Legislature Takes Up Bill to Help School Districts Repair and Replace Buildings

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman,

Check Your State: Here Are the Active Shooter Training Requirements for Schools and Law Enforcement

by Lexi Churchill and Lomi Kriel,

Private Schools, Public Money: School Leaders Are Pushing Parents to Exploit Voucher Programs

by Alec MacGillis,

Idaho Governor Proposes $2 Billion in Funding for School Buildings Over Next 10 Years

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman,

Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis

by Alec MacGillis,

Falling Apart

by Asia Fields, ProPublica, and Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, illustrations by Pia Guerra for ProPublica, design by Anna Donlan, ProPublica,

Idaho Lawmakers Are Discussing a Proposal That Would Make It Easier to Repair Schools

by Becca Savransky and Bryan Clark, Idaho Statesman,

“Uprooted”: What a Black Community Lost When a Virginia University Grew

by Brandi Kellam, Christopher Tyree and Louis Hansen, Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO, and Lisa Riordan Seville, ProPublica,

A Washington Special Education School Accused of Abusing Students Is Closing Amid Scrutiny

by Mike Reicher and Lulu Ramadan, The Seattle Times,

Book Bans in Texas Spread as New State Law Takes Effect

by Jeremy Schwartz,

Texas Took Over Its Largest School District, but Has Let Underperforming Charter Networks Expand

by Kiah Collier and Dan Keemahill,

Federal Scrutiny, Plunging Revenue Plague a Private College’s Attempt at a Turnaround

by Anna Clark, ProPublica, and David Jesse, The Chronicle of Higher Education,

This Security Guard Enforced a School District’s Mask Mandate. He Ended Up Facing a Criminal Charge.

by Nicole Carr,

Idaho creó un fondo de $25 millones para reparar escuelas en mal estado. ¿Por qué nadie lo utiliza?

por Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, fotografía por Sarah A. Miller, Idaho Statesman,

New Mexico AG to Investigate Gallup-McKinley School District for Harsh Discipline of Native American Students

by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico In Depth,

Idaho Created a $25 Million Fund to Fix Unsafe Schools. Why Is Nobody Using It?

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, photography by Sarah A. Miller, Idaho Statesman,

A Washington Special Education School That Was Accused of Harming Kids Is Now Barred From Taking New Students

by Mike Reicher and Lulu Ramadan, The Seattle Times,

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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    The USDA Wouldn’t Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn’t Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt.

    The USDA failed to follow its own guidance for a rural mortgage program, taking years to foreclose on delinquent loans. As a result, 55 Maine borrowers racked up, on average, $110,000 in additional debt before the agency moved to take the homes.

    by Sawyer Loftus, Bangor Daily News,

    Local Reporting Network

    He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.

    Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.

    by Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica; Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Mica Rosenberg and Jeff Ernsthausen, ProPublica; Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga; and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News,

    The Most Interesting Email I Ever Received: Remembering the Incredible Life of DIY Geneticist Jill Viles

    In 2013, ProPublica reporter David Epstein was contacted by a woman with a wild story and a batch of photos she believed were clues to the mystery of her condition. Turns out, she was right.

    by David Epstein,

    Trump Administration Prepares to Drop Seven Major Housing Discrimination Cases

    Federal housing officials spent years investigating cities from Chicago to Memphis to Corpus Christi for putting industrial plants and unwanted facilities in poor, nonwhite neighborhoods. Now, under Trump, the agency plans to drop the cases.

    by Jesse Coburn,

    RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again.

    The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccines.

    by Patricia Callahan,