Enterprise on the
Education beat
Kevin Crowe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel @kcrowebasspro , kcrowe@jrn.com
Kevin Crowe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel @kcrowebasspro , kcrowe@jrn.com
Chronic Absenteeism
- Request data for attendance rates by school, not just by district.
- Districts and schools keep lists of students who miss a lot of school.
- Chronic truancy hurts in a few major ways:
- Kids miss out on an education
- Schools miss out on per-pupil funding
Who's responsible for keeping kids in school?
Empty-Desk Epidemic
Chicago Tribune, FOIA Award Winner
Public Cash to Private Schools
- Some states have voucher programs that pay for students to attend private schools.
- In Milwaukee County, the voucher program resurrected a private school system that was hemorrhaging students:
- 2 out of 3 students in private schools here attend with the help of a taxpayer-funded voucher.
- About a quarter of the schools in the program had 100% of their students on vouchers, and a majority had more than 90% on vouchers.
Where to look for information
- 990s for the nonprofits:
- Some salary information -- executive directors
- Overall budget and asset information
- Overall expenditure information: How much to they spend on teachers, meals, transportation, etc.
- Budget documents on file with your state's Dept. of Ed:
- Could yield information on contracts: We found an exec. director who created a bus company, then gave himself a $200k/year contract to transport students.
- Current and former employees
- PARENTS