Education
Free game tickets, hot concert seats: The politics of higher education in Missouri
“Missouri’s public universities have spent almost a million dollars since 2011 on contracts with professional lobbyists to represent their interests in Jefferson City — while plying state legislators with tens of thousands of dollars more in free meals, sports outings, concert tickets and other perks,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Read the full story here.
Read MoreBaltimore using taxpayer dollars to send youths to a Christian school.
“The Balitmore Sun reports that over the past year and a half, the Baltimore City Department of Social Services paid $40,000 of taxpayer money to send youths in foster care to a private Christian school in Philadelphia where they have obtained a high school diploma in one day.”
Read MoreA gilded goodbye for many private college leaders
Many other college presidents across the country are negotiating huge exit packages when they step down, which critics say is emblematic of schools’ unrestrained spending on everything from administrative salaries to elaborate new buildings that drive up the cost of higher education. Lawrence S. Bacow, president emeritus of Tufts, received $1.7 million in 2011 for “end…
Read MoreSeattle school managers get questionable OT payments
A KIRO 7 investigation finds that some at Seattle’s schools may be violating the HR policy by paying overtime to select district managers who aren’t entitled to make extra money. A months-long investigation reveals a radio station supervisor is the exempt manager making the most OT, banking about $70,000 in the last 2 ½ years.…
Read MoreThe Scholars Who Shill for Wall Street
“Academics get paid by financial firms to testify against Dodd-Frank regulations. What’s wrong with this picture?”
Read MoreGW misrepresented admissions and financial aid policy for years
George Washington University admitted publicly for the first time Friday that it puts hundreds of undergraduate applicants on its waitlist each year because they cannot pay GW’s tuition.
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Poverty and profits, innocent drivers arrested, asbestos lawsuits and neglected abuse fatalities
Facing Foreclosure: Oklahoma’s mortgage settlement program benefits attorneys | Tulsa World“So far, the largest financial beneficiary of Oklahoma’s mortgage settlement program is a young attorney who used a system of vouchers and possibly a family connection to acquire dozens of clients.” Shocking cost investigation: Utility middle men charge renters inflated prices | Columbus Dispatch“A 10-month…
Read MoreSome N.J. private schools for disabled students cashing in on taxpayers
A two-month Star-Ledger investigation found Somerset Hills and schools like it operate in a twilight zone of the state education system, under a unique set of rules that allows them to spend taxpayer money in ways few would tolerate of public schools.
Read MoreFaking the Grade
A Texas Tribune investigation of a No Child Left Behind tutoring program has uncovered years of inaction by state officials while money flowed to tutoring companies, delivering few academic results.
Read MoreCampus crime reports not painting accurate picture of safety around USF, Univ. of Tampa, elsewhere
Following a rash of violent crimes around the USF campus, WTSP’s investigative team digs into federal Clery Act reporting to expose the hidden dangers around many college campuses. Most students will never know their off-campus apartments are often in the most dangerous parts of town – and most universities do little to prepare them for…
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