Education
Inside Our Schools
In the Wild West of School Voucher Expansions, States Rely on Untested Companies, With Mixed Results
States are handing multimillion-dollar contracts to a handful of fledgling private companies to manage the rapidly growing, convoluted marketplace of school-choice programs. The process has been bumpy.
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.
How Segregated Are Your Local Private Schools? We Made a Tool to Help You Find Out.
Our reporters mined a trove of data that revealed detailed demographic information about private schools. That helped us find illuminating stories about how those schools divide communities.
ProPublica Releases New Private School Demographics Lookup
Now you can look up detailed demographic information about thousands of private schools across the country and compare them to nearby public schools.
Featured Reporters
Impact of Our Reporting
Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School
The latest version of a bill spurred by a 2022 ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation would explicitly prevent police from ticketing students for violations such as vaping or truancy, and require districts to track and disclose police activity.
Feds Fine Baker College $2.5 Million for Deceptive Marketing That Left Students With Debts and Regrets
A 2022 investigation detailed how the once-growing Michigan school built its reputation on slick advertising despite low graduation rates and leaving many students burdened with heavy debt.
Illinois’ AG Said It’s Illegal for Schools to Use Police to Ticket Students. But His Office Told Only One District.
Despite the attorney general’s declaration that Illinois schools should stop using police to discipline students, officers statewide continue to ticket kids with costly fines. One lawmaker will again pursue legislation to end the practice.
Series
Series: Crackdown on Student Threats: Tennessee’s Harsh Punishment of Kids
Series: School Wars: How Battles Over Vouchers, Book Bans, COVID-19 and More Are Harming Public Education
Series: Segregation Academies: Decades After Desegregation, Private Schools Still Divide
Series: Inside Shrub Oak: An Unregulated Boarding School for Autistic Students
Series: State of Disrepair: Inside Idaho’s Crumbling Schools
Series: Chaos at the School Board: Unraveling America’s School Board Unrest
Series: Unequal Discipline: Native Students Face Harsh Discipline in New Mexico
Series: The Price Kids Pay: How Schools and Police Work Together to Punish Students
Series: The Pandemic and Illinois Schools: A Digital Divide, Vulnerable Students and Hidden Data
Series: Grace: A Failure in Michigan’s Juvenile Justice System
Series: Lessons Lost: How Federal Schools Are Failing Native American Students
Series: Dollars for Profs: The Lucrative World of Academic Moonlighting
Series: The Quiet Rooms: Children Locked Away in Illinois Schools
Series: Campus Complicity: Faculty Sexual Misconduct in Illinois
Series: Financial Aid Loophole: Giving Up Guardianship to Get Aid
Series: The $3 Million Research Breakdown: University of Illinois at Chicago’s Troubling Study
Series: The Failure Track: Alternative Schools and Accountability
Series: Evaluating Charter Schools: Questions About Public Transparency and Private Profits
