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Education

Inside Our Schools

222 stories published since 2015

The Nonprofit College That Spends More on Marketing Than Financial Aid

by Anna Clark, ProPublica, and David Jesse, Detroit Free Press,

The Federal Government Gave Billions to America’s Schools for COVID-19 Relief. Where Did the Money Go?

by Annie Waldman and Bianca Fortis,

Few Masks. Sick Kids. Packed ERs. How One District’s First Four Weeks of School Went Bad.

by Nicole Carr,

A Boy With an Autoimmune Disease Was Ready to Learn in Person. Then His State Banned Mask Mandates.

by Annie Waldman and Bianca Fortis,

My Kids’ School Won’t Reinstate Masks Despite a Recent Surge in COVID Cases. Here’s What I Chose to Do.

by Nicole Carr,

Held Back: Inside a Lost School Year

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, photography by Cydni Elledge,

“I Finally Got to the Mountaintop and I Failed”

by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA,

The Bureau of Indian Education Hasn’t Told the Public How Its Schools Are Performing. So We Did It Instead.

by Alden Woods, The Arizona Republic, and Agnel Philip, ProPublica,

How We Analyzed the Performance of Bureau of Indian Education Schools

by Agnel Philip, ProPublica, and Alden Woods, The Arizona Republic,

Illinois Dramatically Limits Use of Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Schools

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

America’s Richest School Serves Low-Income Kids. But Much of Its Hershey-Funded Fortune Isn’t Being Spent.

by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA,

Illinois Continued to Seclude and Restrain Students This Year Even Though Many Schools Were Closed

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

Hershey Profits Fund $17 Billion Endowment for Nonprofit School, but Board Member Says It Won’t Let Him See Financial Records

by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA,

New York City Kills COVID Rule That Led to Repeated School Closings Despite No Evidence of Outbreaks

by Eric Umansky,

My Kids’ School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts.

by Eric Umansky,

The Lost Year: What the Pandemic Cost Teenagers

by Alec MacGillis, photography by Celeste Sloman for ProPublica,

Bill Banning Locked Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Illinois Schools Stalls as Lawmakers Run Out of Time

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

Only Seven of Stanford’s First 5,000 Vaccines Were Designated for Medical Residents

by Caroline Chen,

The Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped This School District From Suing Parents Over Unpaid Textbook Fees

by Ellis Simani, ProPublica, and Kim Kilbride, South Bend Tribune,

A student looks out of a school bus window.

Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.

by Annie Waldman and Heather Vogell,

Did You Attend the Milton Hershey School? We're Investigating It. Help Us.

by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA, Beena Raghavendran and Zipporah Osei, ProPublica,

Illinois Will Start Sharing Data About COVID-19 Outbreaks in Schools

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Illinois Has Had COVID-19 Outbreaks in 44 Schools but Won’t Say Where They’ve Occurred

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

The Federal Government Promised Native American Students Computers and Internet. Many Are Still Waiting.

by Alden Woods, Arizona Republic,

¿Son seguras las escuelas y las universidades en Estados Unidos? ¿Los alumnos realmente aprenden? Ayúdenos a saber más.

por Beena Raghavendran, Caroline Chen, Annie Waldman y Jodi S. Cohen,

The Federal Government Gives Native Students an Inadequate Education, and Gets Away With It

by Alden Woods, Arizona Republic,

Grace, Black Teen Jailed for Not Doing Her Online Coursework, Is Released

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Prosecutors Say They Support Releasing Girl Who Was Detained for Not Doing Her Schoolwork

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Judge Won’t Free Michigan Teenager Sent to Juvenile Detention After Not Doing Online Schoolwork

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Thousands Demand That Michigan #FreeGrace After the Teenager Was Incarcerated for Not Doing Her Schoolwork

by Jodi S. Cohen,

A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention.

by Jodi S. Cohen,

“I Can’t Breathe.” It Happens at Schools, Too.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

Bill to Ban Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Illinois Schools Gets Sidelined After Pushback From Administrators

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,

Families of Special Needs Students Fear They’ll Lose School Services in Coronavirus Shutdown

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

This Rural School District Has Been Asking for Wi-Fi for Years. Now It’s Finally Getting It.

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

How Often Do Schools Use Seclusion and Restraint? The Federal Government Isn’t Properly Tracking the Data, According to a New Report

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Most Illinois School Districts Did Not Have Approved E-learning Plans Before the Pandemic

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

How a School Stopped Relying on Restraining and Isolating Students — and What Others Can Learn From It

Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,

A School on Navajo Nation Stayed Open. Then People Started Showing Symptoms.

by Alden Woods, The Arizona Republic,

Lawmakers Vow to Push for a Statewide Ban on Face-Down Restraint of Children in Illinois Schools, Despite Reversal

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,

Illinois Quietly Reversed Its Ban on a Dangerous Physical Restraint for Students

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

When the State Shifted to E-learning, This Rural School Superintendent Shifted to the Copy Machine

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Not All Schools Can #KeepLearning

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen and Haru Coryne, ProPublica Illinois,

What’s It Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.?

by Alec MacGillis,

Chicago Public Libraries Are Staying Open Even Though Librarians Say It Is Not Safe

by Jodi S. Cohen and Logan Jaffe,

The Trump Administration Drove Him Back to China, Where He Invented a Fast Coronavirus Test

by David Armstrong, Annie Waldman and Daniel Golden,

Chicago Shuts Down, but Its Public Libraries Are Open. Librarians Want Them Closed.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Logan Jaffe,

A Parent at My Kids’ School Tested Positive. New York City Didn’t Tell Us and Hasn’t Closed the School.

by Eric Umansky,

Illinois Adopts Stricter Rules Against Secluding and Physically Restraining Students in Schools

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,

School Employees Have Used Isolated Timeouts Illegally, State Investigations Find

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,