Aliyya Swaby
Aliyya Swaby is a reporter in ProPublica’s South unit covering children, families and social inequality.
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Aliyya Swaby is a reporter in ProPublica’s South unit covering children, families and social inequality. Previously, she was a reporter at the Texas Tribune, where she covered public education and state politics starting in 2016. Her reporting in Texas exposed school officials criminalizing students for vaping, highlighted the state's role in remote learning failures and drew attention to mental health challenges among young children. Her series on the legacy of school segregation in Texas was a Livingston Award finalist. Swaby also won first place in the 2020 National Awards for Education Reporting for beat reporting that investigated the impact of the coronavirus on Texas public schools.
Before joining the Tribune, Swaby was a local reporter at the New Haven Independent covering public education, transit and zoning, and an independent reporter in Panama covering social issues in Black communities.
First Came the Warning Signs. Then a Teen Opened Fire on a Nashville School.
Tennessee authorities were alerted to Solomon Henderson’s threatening and violent behavior long before he brought a gun to Antioch High School. It’s unclear how many red flags were heeded.
How Many Students Have Been Expelled Under Tennessee’s School Threats Law? There’s No Clear Answer.
Tennessee gives public agencies wide latitude to refuse to release data. That made it challenging for our reporters to figure out just how many students were affected.
Two Families Sue After 11-Year-Old and 13-Year-Old Students Were Arrested Under Tennessee’s School Threat Law
The lawsuits, filed in federal court this month, argue East Tennessee school officials violated students’ rights by calling the police on them under Tennessee’s threats of mass violence law.
A 13-Year-Old With Autism Got Arrested After His Backpack Sparked Fear. Only His Stuffed Bunny Was Inside.
Disability rights advocates said kids like Ty should not be getting arrested under Tennessee’s school threats law. And they tried to push for a broader exception for kids with other kinds of disabilities. It didn’t work.
An 11-Year-Old Denied Making a Threat and Was Allowed to Return to School. Tennessee Police Arrested Him Anyway.
A state law makes threats of mass violence at school a felony, even if they’re not credible. Judges and school officials say the law unnecessarily traumatizes kids.
Georgia’s Top GOP Lawmaker Seeks Tougher Action Against Students Who Make Threats. But It May Not Make Schools Safer.
To deter violence, research suggests the best strategy is not harsh punishment for threats but a different tactic, one based on decades of interviews with mass shooters, political assassins and people who survived attacks: threat assessments.
A 10-Year-Old Pointed a Finger Gun. The Principal Kicked Him Out of His Tennessee School for a Year.
A 2023 state law requires a yearlong expulsion for any student who threatens mass violence on school property. But some students have been kicked out even when school officials determined that the threat was not credible.
Transgender Care Coverage Policies in North Carolina and West Virginia Are Discriminatory, Court Rules
The states violated federal law by banning coverage of certain treatments for transgender people but allowing it for others, according to a decision that could influence courts around the country.
Tennessee Is Ramping Up Penalties for Student Threats. Research Shows That’s Not the Best Way to Keep Schools Safe.
Zero-tolerance measures can counteract what some experts consider a crucial tool for protecting students and the larger community.
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How Georgia’s Small Power Companies Endanger Their Most Vulnerable Customers
The state’s small electricity providers aren’t required to delay disconnecting seriously ill customers who depend on medical devices, putting lives at risk.