Education
Taxpayers subsidize college athletics
Mark Alesia of The Indianapolis Star finds that “athletic departments at taxpayer-funded universities nationwide receive more than $1 billion in student fees and general school funds and services.” The investigation analyzed the 2004-05 athletic budgets of 164 of the nation’s 215 biggest public schools. The Star compiled and put online what is says is the…
Read MoreStudents often call police about peers’ parties
Brian Charlton and Don Jordan of The State News at Michigan State University analyzed noise and party violations from 2004 and 2005, including 1,025 noise, 41 unlawful party and two nuisance party violations, and found student neighborhoods were saturated with violations. The most ticketed areas were student apartment complexes, a finding that surprised police who…
Read MoreLines blurred in professors’ taxpayer-funded research
Matt Reed and John McCarthy of Florida Today examined university records to show that every day in Florida, state university professors work as consultants, expert witnesses and researchers-for-hire, earning thousands in fees. Most often, those faculty members work in their roles as public employees, sponsored by grants from corporations, local governments or trade groups. “But…
Read MoreViolence spikes in Chicago high schools
Rosalind Rossi, Mark J. Konkol and Art Golab of the Chicago Sun-Times investigated Chicago’s public high schools that are troubled by incidents of violence. “Wells, Hyde Park and Clemente are among eight high schools that each received more than 150 students from the attendance areas of troubled schools now tapped for closure and eventual rebirth.”…
Read MorePrep players enroll in questionable schools
Pete Thamel, with contributions from Thayer Evans, Jack Begg and Sandra Jamison, of The New York Times found more than a dozen institutions claiming to be prep schools, some of which closed soon after opening. “All or most of the students were highly regarded basketball players. These athletes were trying to raise their grades to…
Read MoreOilman’s donation invested in his fund
Stephanie Strom of The New York Times investigated Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman turned investor, to show the $165 million that he gave to a tiny charity set up to benefit the golf program at Oklahoma State University was invested in a hedge fund controlled by Pickens’ BP Capital Management. The gift, which helped Pickens…
Read MoreSchool district loans are unreasonable burden on taxpayers
Jeffrey Gaunt and Emily Krone of the Daily Herald , outside Chicago, analyzed 206 suburban school district loans to show many taxpayers repay those loans at rates higher than they would on their homes. The investigation found that, despite federal measures that keep government rates low, the district agreed that taxpayers will pay back $6.03…
Read MoreUniversity leader serves on 10 boards
Eleanor Yang of the The San Diego Union-Tribune used calendar records obtained under the California Public Records Act to show that UC San Diego Chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, has served as a director for 10 corporations and nonprofit organizations, while running the university for the past year and a half. Fox spent more than 180…
Read MoreKinko’s deal costly for Dallas schools
Kent Fischer, Pete Slover and Tawnell D. Hobbs of the The Dallas Morning News used district records to show that a plan by Dallas schools to outsource copying and printing to industry giant Kinko’s, started to slash copying and printing expenses by 21 percent, has in fact quadrupled expenses. “Across the entire Dallas Independent School…
Read MoreLoopholes put school bus drivers with violations on roads
Brad Branan of the Tucson Citizen used court records to show that Arizona school bus drivers with criminal records or multiple moving violations are escaping state regulatory enforcement and putting children and other motorists at risk. The investigation found that drivers with criminal records or multiple traffic violations are among the most accident prone at…
Read More