http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Extra! Extra! is your guide to the latest investigative work. Send comments and suggestions to extraextra@ire.org. en-us support@ire.org 2008-06-12T11:20:34-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_06.html An inspection by the U.S. Department of Education revealed that "D.C. school administrators can’t verify that their special education teachers are certified to serve the city’s most vulnerable and costliest student population," reports Dena Levitz of The Washington Examiner. The... 2270@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-06-12T11:20:34-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_05.html An investigative report by Josh Bernstein of KNXV-Phoenix revealed that tires on school buses serving six area districts had major damage &#8212 chunks of rubber missing, splitting treads &#8212 yet the buses were still in use. Despite claims that tires... 2255@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Broadcast 2008-05-23T09:46:04-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_05.html An investigation by David Andreatta, of the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.), examined the textbook procurement procedure of the Rochester School District and found a wide range of problems and waste. Issues range from nearly 20,000 book going undistributed eight... 2252@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-05-19T16:10:00-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_05.html KSTP-Minneapolis investigated Minnesota's School District Integration Revenue, a fund intended to enhance diversity in schools across the state. "Experts say that money has been budgeted with no clear purpose." A line-by-line evaluation of one district's budget revealed questionable spending, such... 2251@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-05-19T10:43:58-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_05.html An investigation by Jim Parsons of WTAE-Pittsburgh "exposed a system that allows disruptive students to get the same diploma as other children, even though they only have to put in half the number of hours." Many of the schools attended... 2250@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-05-19T10:14:12-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_05.html After a 10-month investigtion, The Arizona Daily Star reports that many students in Tucson-area school districts are being socially promoted and not earning the grades they deserve. "In the 2006-07 school year alone, nine in 10 students were moved to... 2246@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-05-14T09:21:51-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_04.html A three-month investigation by Joel Grover of KNBC-Los Angeles found lead levels in drinking water that exceeded EPA safety limits at several area public schools. Contaminated fountains were found at nine of the 30 schools tested. An internal report obtained... 2232@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Health 2008-04-28T13:56:43-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_03.html An investigation by Corey G. Johnson of the Fayetteville Observer finds that North Carolina is the only state in the nation that selects the top leaders of all its public universities in secret. The Observer surveyed every state university system... 2199@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-03-07T12:17:39-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_02.html Despite laws requiring regular fire safety inspection of the state's schools, an investigation by KNXV-TV (Phoenix) revealed that the Office of the Arizona State Fire Marshal have failed to complete the routine inspections. "A review of records for 200 schools... 2184@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Government (federal/state/local) 2008-02-05T16:15:08-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2008_01.html Alan Wirzbicki and Kevin Baron of The Boston Globe exposed a lucrative black market that exists for professional certification exams. The Globe found that "pirated answers to hundreds of professional qualifying exams, in fields ranging from school-bus driving to... 2163@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2008-01-10T17:23:03-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2007_10.html Scott Reeder, writing for Quad-CitiesOnline.com, found that Illinois ranked 49th in a nationwide analysis of disciplinary actions against teachers. The state has no system in place to investigate or flag teachers accused of misconduct. To determine how Illinois compares to... 2086@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2007-10-19T15:48:24-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2007_10.html The Columbus Dispatch delves into Ohio's flawed system of disciplining and tracking teachers, coaches, aides, counselors and administrators. The Web site for The ABCs of Betrayal includes asearchable database of Ohio educators disciplined since 2000. The 10-month investigation found educators... 2083@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Education 2007-10-16T10:25:13-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2007_09.html Clark Kauffman of the Des Moines Register reported in a two-part series that Iowa's two largest public universities are aggressively marketing credit cards to their students as part of an arrangement that generates millions of dollars for the schools' privately... 2059@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Business 2007-09-25T09:40:57-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2007_08.html James Pressley, school board president in Pleasantville, N.J., sought money from community businesses who were seeking contracts from the school board. John Froojian, of the Press of Atlantic City, reports that money was solicited for the James A. Pressley Scholarship... 2009@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Business 2007-08-03T16:02:51-06:00 http://www.ire.org/extraextra/archives/2007_07.html A Dallas Morning News investigation into disciplinary records of employees at state schools for the mentally retarded " found hundreds of cases of abuse at the hands of those charged with caring for the mentally retarded – everything from extreme... 2002@http://www.ire.org/extraextra/ Justice (courts/crime/law) 2007-07-26T16:01:00-06:00