The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "teachers union" ...
-
Diploma Mill
A series of stories from the Virgin Islands Daily News, "Diploma Mill" reveals that the V.I. government was working with and enabling a diploma mill to target V.I. teachers. The author's research indicates that the institution was not a school, but was instead a "diploma-generating business that had ties to a questionable online operation."
Tags: diploma mill; teacher certification; accreditation; Virgin Islands; buying diplomas; teacher's union
-
The Hidden Costs of Tenure
This project is an in-depth look at public school teacher tenure in Illinois, 20 years after lawmakers passed an education reform package designed to make it easier to dismiss underperforming teachers. The investigation found that it is still incredibly hard for schools to fire tenured teachers, and as a result some teachers are doing a poor job.
Tags: school; teachers; state government; FOIA; Freedom of Information; open record; teachers union
-
Gold in Educators' Unused Sick Days
This investigation uncovered a provision in Chicago public school principals that allows them to save up unused sick days to cash in upon retirement. Not only can they collect up to 315 days of unused sick pay, but 244 of those can also be used as service time to increase their pension.
Tags: education; salary; teachers union; school board; retirement; pension plan
-
Coaches who prey: The abuse of girls and the system that allows it
Following a year of investigation that included interviews with more than 260 people, 110 public-records requests and legal battles in four counties, the Seattle Times revealed how coaches who have been reprimanded or fired for sexual misconduct continued to coach or teach. Among the findings: School officials and the teachers union team up to keep misconduct records concealed; schools risk student safety while they, unknowingly or not, protect coaches; reprimanded coaches resurface in other school districts; victims say club teams are a haven for sexual abuse.
Tags: schools; education; coaches; sexual abuse; sexual assault; rape
-
A lavish lifestyle at teacher's expense.
Reporters from the Miami Herald found the president of the United Teachers of Dade of committing fraud and using corporate funds to finance personal assets. Followed by a FBI investigation on Pat Tornillo, the reporters used their contacts in the FBI to find out how the union leader had evaded taxes and used company finances. Tornillo was later sentenced by the courts.
Tags: Union Teachers of Dade; FBI investigation on Tornillo; Pat Tornillo; Union Leader of teachers of Dade; FOIA; tax evasion; mail fraud
-
Substitutes Unite! They are the Rodney Dangerfields of teaching, the bottom of education's food chain.
This story explains how a substitute teacher working in Fresno, California became upset by the working conditions and pay she was receiving as a substitute teacher. As a result, she organized a union specifically designed for substitute teachers.
Tags: substitute teachers; teacher salaries; teacher pay; union; teachers' union; substitute teachers' union; education; salary; pay; money
-
Tenure on Trial
Article explains how one school district in Patchogue, New York tried to stop teachers from getting tenure. The anti-tenure school board denied tenure to four teachers who would have otherwise received tenure. As a result, the teacher's union took the board to court, and after several tries, a judge ruled in the teacher's favor.
Tags: teachers; teacher's union; unions; tenure; academic freedom; education; schools; school board; school boards; court; teacher's salaries; Patchogue; New York
-
Why teachers don't teach?
Teachers' unions are now being criticized for being more concerned about bureaucracy and protection than they are about teaching and quality education.
Tags: education; teachers; unions; NEA; teachers' unions; labor
-
Feed 5: Best of Show and Tell
1) Jennifer Kraus (WTVF-Nashville) This story exposes problems at the Nashville office of international charity "Feed the Children." In a four-month investigation, WTVF-TV's undercover cameras caught the charity's staff loading up their personal cars with donated items and taking the items home. 2) Deborah Sherman (WFXT - Boston) Costa Rican trips for child sex. Actually spoke with girls who used to get paid by American tourists for sex. Focuses on one area man charged with this crime. 3) Anna Werner, David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) KHOU-TV reports that "You're in physical pain. You need help. So you go to your doctor expecting needed relief and comfort. But what if in the process of treating you, you realize this healer's touch has become 'sexual?' That's what dozens of Houston women claimed happened to them when they were referred to a local health professional, a professional they claimed used their trust to molest and even rape them. His name is Shin Higashiura and he claimed to be a Master of Shiatsu, also known as acupressure, a Japanese massage therapy that promises health benefits...." 4) Jilda Unruh (WCCO-Minneapolis) An investigation reveals that automatic door sensors can't detect certain colors. The doors often close on elderly people, causing them harm. 5) Tom Merriman/Jeff Harris (WEWS-Cleveland) The story investigates how state-trained lifeguards perform on state beaches as compared to privately trained lifeguards on private beaches. Follows both teams though a simulation. The state team fails horribly and never recovers the dummy planted for them to rescue. 6) Jim Schaefer; Shellee Smith (WXYZ-Detroit) WXYZ-TV discovered that the leaders of Highland Park, a poor city surrounded by Detroit, had virtually ignored a major problem in the 911 emergency response system while continuing to enjoy the relatively expensive perks of their jobs. While claiming there was no money in the budget to fix the problem, the mayor leased a brand-new Lincoln with city cash. Undercover video found citizens at risk, fire fighters in danger and no one helping. 7) Drew Griffin (KCBS-Los Angeles) "The Real ConAir" Investigation reveals department of corrections transporting convicts on commercial flights. Passengers are not told who's sitting beside them. Planes are forced to land because of disturbances during the flight. A girl is sexually assaulted by one of these convicts. 8) Robb Leer; Maria Tomasch (KSTP-Minneapolis) Inmates can change their names on the taxpayer's dime. 9) Jeremy Rogalski; Bill Dutton; Gerry Lanosga; Kathleen Johnston (WTHR-Indianapolis) WTHR-TV reports that "a source mentioned to us that numerous DUI cases were being dismissed because police witnesses fail to appear in court... After we crunched a slice of our county's criminal justice data ... We found thousands of DUI cases - nearly one in ten - thrown out because cops didn't show..." 10) Wes Williams; C.J. Ward (KPNX-Phoenix) Security guards with criminal records have a "License to Steal." 11) Tony Kovaleski; Matt Goldberg (KPRC-Houston) Ninety-eight guns were discovered in schools in 10 of Houston's largest school districts -- that works out to 5,864 students per gun. 12) Phil Williams; Chris Clark (WTVF-Nashville) WTVF-TV's investigation into the backgrounds of school teachers found more than three dozen convicted felons working in Metro Nashville-Davidson County schools. 13) Chris Halsne; Kim Albro; Dave Weed (KWTV-Oklahoma City) Voters handed Oklahoma City Schools a 93 million dollar bond in 1993 to improve schools. The money is now gone, but many projects remain unfinished. KWTV-TV's investigation found millions of dollars in waste, fraud and mismanagement. 14) Laure Quinlivan; Jeff Keene; Ken Fulk; Mark Shafer; Scott Diener; Stuart Zanger (WCPO-Cincinnati) WCPO-TV's investigation "... to monitor County officials as they began spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money... earmarked to build two, new sports stadiums for our city's professional sports teams, the Bengals and Red. As (the) investigation enters its third year, work on the first stadium is two-thirds complete and ground will soon break on the second. Already, our investigation has revealed broken promises, manipulation of numbers in official reports, political cronyism in contract awards, creation of 'pass-through' companies and other questionable and possibly illegal activities...." 15) Jim Barry; John Campbell; Sam Zeff; Jennifer Snell; Denise Haley; Brad Naw (WTXF-Philadelphia) After transit union strike crippled Philadelphia's bus and subway service for forty days, WTXF-TV investigated the region's transportation agency - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA is one of the largest and most expensive transit systems in the county. This investigation exposed a widespread culture of laziness and dishonest work habits that was allowing hundreds of buses with potentially dangerous problems out onto the street each day. 16)Darcy Spears; Kim Kruger (KVBC-Las Vegas) "Taken for a Ride". Taxi drivers getting kickbacks for taking clients to certain bars/stripclubs.
Tags: TAPE; Investigative reporting; computer-assisted reporting; IRE; FOI; CAR; no transcripts
-
How to Fix America's Schools
"Bush is 'asking our schools to do something that no society has ever done, to educate all children well, regardless of their circumstances.'" Business Week reporters, along with a variety of experts and educators, helped "draw up seven strategies that, pursued together, would go a long way toward fixing America's schools."
Tags: education; teachers; salaries; students; computers; testing; reading; unions; National Urban League; funding