Education
Inside Our Schools
This Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools
Oklahoma has spent years reshaping public schools to integrate lessons about Jesus and encourage pride in America’s history. By the time the second Trump administration began espousing its “America First” agenda, Oklahoma had been there, done that.
Disabled Idaho Students Lack Access to Playgrounds and Lunchrooms. Historic $2 Billion Funding Will Do Little to Help.
Despite federal law, disabled students can’t access playgrounds, lunchrooms, classes and bathrooms. With added funding, school districts are still unable to make necessary fixes.
Local Reporting Network
Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Get Funding Back Despite Trump’s Anti-DEI Campaign
Following public outcry, the Department of Education has reversed its decision to cut funding for students who have both hearing and vision loss, opting instead to reroute grants to an organization that will provide funding to these students.
Five Ways the Department of Education Is Upending Public Schools
The Trump administration has made a rapid succession of hires and decisions at the Department of Education that could spur profound changes in how schools operate and children learn. Here’s what to know.
Featured Reporters
Impact of Our Reporting
New Uvalde Records Reveal Details About School Safety Concerns and Shooter’s Behavioral Issues
The release is part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit that news organizations brought against state and local governments. The fight continues to get the Texas Department of Public Safety to release its own records.
A Tennessee School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of 11-Year-Old Student Arrested Under School Threats Law
Under the settlement, the Chattanooga charter school also agreed to implement training on how to handle threats of mass violence at school, including differentiating between “clearly innocuous statements” and “imminent” violence.
Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School
The legislation comes after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that even though state law bans schools from fining students directly, districts skirt the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.
Series
Series: Crackdown on Student Threats: Tennessee’s Harsh Punishment of Kids
Series: School Wars: How Battles Over Vouchers, Book Bans, COVID-19 and More Are Harming Public Education
Series: Segregation Academies: Decades After Desegregation, Private Schools Still Divide
Series: Inside Shrub Oak: An Unregulated Boarding School for Autistic Students
Series: State of Disrepair: Inside Idaho’s Crumbling Schools
Series: Chaos at the School Board: Unraveling America’s School Board Unrest
Series: Unequal Discipline: Native Students Face Harsh Discipline in New Mexico
Series: The Price Kids Pay: How Schools and Police Work Together to Punish Students
Series: The Pandemic and Illinois Schools: A Digital Divide, Vulnerable Students and Hidden Data
Series: Grace: A Failure in Michigan’s Juvenile Justice System
Series: Lessons Lost: How Federal Schools Are Failing Native American Students
Series: Dollars for Profs: The Lucrative World of Academic Moonlighting
Series: The Quiet Rooms: Children Locked Away in Illinois Schools
Series: Campus Complicity: Faculty Sexual Misconduct in Illinois
Series: Financial Aid Loophole: Giving Up Guardianship to Get Aid
Series: The $3 Million Research Breakdown: University of Illinois at Chicago’s Troubling Study
Series: The Failure Track: Alternative Schools and Accountability
Series: Evaluating Charter Schools: Questions About Public Transparency and Private Profits
Series: College Debt: How College Debt is Putting the Squeeze on Families
What We’re Watching
During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.
Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.
Sharon Lerner
I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.
Andy Kroll
I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.
Melissa Sanchez
I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.
Jesse Coburn
I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.
If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.
