Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

August 2, 2017

When it comes to school district finances, the numbers aren’t easy to add up. But tracking and analyzing this information is a powerful tool to drive smart news coverage.

Veteran education journalist Tawnell Hobbs of The Wall Street Journal shares tips and tricks for digging into district operating budgets and actual expenditures, as well as salary databases, overtime requests, check registers and credit card accounts, purchase orders, and more. Learn how to evaluate fiscal data that’s readily available and make the most of open records requests.

Why Four-Day School Weeks Are Gaining Ground
Districts use shorter schedule to cut costs, recruit teachers
(EWA Radio: Episode 185)

October 16, 2018 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

Once more common to rural communities, the four-day school week is growing in popularity in suburban and urban districts as a way to reduce costs, boost student engagement, and even retain staff. Tawnell Hobbs of The Wall Street Journal found the number of school systems following a four-day academic week has skyrocketed in the past decade, from about 120 districts in 17 states to at least 600 districts in 22 states this year.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

By the Numbers: Big Stakes for Education in Statewide Races

October 11, 2018 Erik Robelen

It’s hard to overstate the potential implications for education in the 2018 elections. The reasons have less to do with the high-profile battle for control of Congress. It’s really about the volume of state-level contests in November.

EWA Radio

The Feds Have 13,000 Migrant Kids in Custody. Who’s Teaching Them?
Investigation finds little oversight of private companies providing required academic instruction inside detention facilities
(EWA Radio: Episode 184)

October 8, 2018 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

Thousands of migrant children have been taken into custody while crossing the border into the U.S., either on their own or while traveling with family members. While they await a court date, the federal government is required to provide school-age detainees—being held in facilities across the country—with daily schooling. In a new investigation, Lauren Camera of U.S.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

Education Dept. to Change College Scorecard, Be Less ‘Prescriptive’ With Accreditors, Officials Say

October 4, 2018 Delece Smith-Barrow of The Hechinger Report for EWA

Federal education officials say they want to help students make more informed decisions about where to go to school, what college will cost, and what return on investment to expect – reflecting U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s vision for reducing regulation of higher education while improving the public’s ability to exercise school choice.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

Teachers Turn Focus to Ballot Box, But Threat of More Strikes Looms Large

October 4, 2018 David Loewenberg

In May, after massive teacher strikes shook up politics in a half-dozen states and thousands of teachers returned to the classroom fresh off the picket lines, a central question lingered: Was the “educator spring,” as the teacher walkouts were dubbed, a one-off event or just a taste of what’s to come?

State of the Education Beat
Nation’s Education Reporters Confident They’re Making a Difference

Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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