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.

‘Operation Varsity Blues’: The Real Story Isn’t the Admissions Scandal.
How federal investigation of ‘side doors’ into elite colleges sheds light on larger inequities for underserved students
(EWA Radio: Episode 202)

March 19, 2019 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

Nearly 50 people, including 33 parents, have been indicted in what the U.S. Department of Justice is calling its largest-ever fraud investigation in college admissions. Looking beyond the celebrity-driven headlines on bribery and fraud allegations, how can education reporters seize the moment to examine the underlying societal and institutional factors that fuel admissions inequities in postsecondary admissions?

Blog: Higher Ed Beat

Why Elite Colleges Have Always Been ‘Pay to Play’

March 14, 2019 Emily Richmond

The details of bribery and fraud involving some of the nation’s most elite colleges unveiled in the “Operation Varsity Blues” admissions scandal are jaw-dropping. But the underlying premise — that wealth can buy entry to prestigious universities – has been a subject of many journalistic investigations over recent decades.

EWA Radio

Rocky Times on the Rocky Mountain Education Beat
From teacher strikes and school safety to covering local news in a time of dwindling resources
(EWA Radio: Episode 201)

March 12, 2019 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

In Colorado, Denver Post reporter Elizabeth Hernandez is covering education and a little bit of everything else. That’s a challenge in a state with plenty of school-related stories, and at a newspaper where recent layoffs are straining newsroom capacity. She discusses the recent Denver teacher strike, the first such labor action in 25 years, as well as her coverage of the rising cost to school districts of investigating social media threats. Hernandez, who is soon moving to take over the higher education beat, explains how she uses social media as a reporting and engagement tool in her daily work, and why reporting on educational equity gaps and the experiences of first-generation college students are among her top priorities. She also discusses taking on a high-profile role speaking out against management decisions — and massive layoffs — by her newspaper’s owners. How has becoming a public advocate for local journalism changed her professional perspective?

EWA Radio

Behind Bars and in College
Postsecondary education in Illinois’ prison system
(EWA Radio: Episode 200)

March 5, 2019 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

If you’re an inmate in Illinois, what educational programs are available to help you get your life back on track? That’s the question public radio reporter Lee Gaines set out to answer in an ongoing series. As part of an EWA Reporting Fellowship, Gaines looks at how severe budget cuts in Illinois, plus changes to eligibility for federal Pell Grant dollars, have reduced the number of prisoners earning postsecondary credentials and degrees.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

Reporting on Race With Context and Empathy
'Respect people’s humanity and resilience when you use their life to illustrate a problem,' says Adeshina Emmanuel.

February 28, 2019 Marquita Brown

Long before Adeshina Emmanuel wrote a story that went viral about a teenager’s literacy struggle, the Chicago-based reporter was part of a small, teary-eyed audience listening to one woman speak.

The woman, Katrina Falkner, recounted stepping up to take care of her nephew, Javion Grayer, after the teen’s mother died in 2016. Falkner described the realization that, at 16 years old, Javion was reading at a second-grade level.

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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