Jennifer Smith Richards
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Investigations in the Midwest at ProPublica. Past: Chicago Tribune by way of OH/GA/NY/WV. Enthusiastic about FOIA + data. Tell me everything.
Articles by Jennifer Smith Richards
Trump’s Education Department Scaled Back Investigations Into Discrimination and Sexual Assault on Campus, New Data Shows
The civil rights arm of the U.S. Department of Education has dramatically scaled back investigations involving schools and colleges since the second Trump administration began, even as complaints continue to pour in, a ProPublica analysis of newly obtained records found. The analysis shows how severely the department’s Office for Civil Rights has retracted from its mission, launching an average of about 100 new investigations a month — 1,839 total from Inauguration Day in 2025 through July 2026.
How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours
It began as a casual question — and a flicker of curiosity — uttered during a meeting of ProPublica journalists who this year are reporting on publicly funded private schools. We were discussing how, in many states, basically anyone can open a private school wherever they want. No experience, no training, no curriculum required. One of our editors jumped in and asked: What if ProPublica tried to establish a private school? We were intrigued. We are longtime education reporters, not educators.
You could open NextGen Public Purse Academy in Missouri and eight other states.
There’s no central, up-to-date source of states’ rules and regulations relating to private schools. So ProPublica journalists compiled research to create one. For each state and the District of Columbia, we sifted through language in state laws, regulatory guidance and state education department rules to determine the minimum requirements for founding a private school there.
It’s Easy to Start a Private School. Find Out Where You Can Open Yours.
by Zisiga Mukulu, Jennifer Smith Richards, Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Berry Hawes, with illustrations by Millie von Platen for ProPublica Oct. 2, 2026 Ever imagine yourself as a private school operator? It’s not such a wild idea. Hundreds of new private schools have popped up all over the country in recent years, fueled by a new wave of public money for students to pay tuition. But the rules for opening a private school vary wildly from state to state.
We’re Reporters, Not Teachers. We Were Able to Start Private Schools Anyway.
A classroom in the United States. Photo: Marie from Malang, East Java, Indonesia / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons We have no business running a private school. We’re reporters, not teachers. That doesn’t matter. Inexperience has hardly been a barrier for those who want to start their own schools, as we have reported this year. And it didn’t stop us, either.
How Videos Helped Me Uncover Abuse at an Arkansas Private School
The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain was set back off a country road in a white colonial house — such an atypical location that I first drove right by it, unsure that it was a school. I turned around, went to the door, introduced myself as a reporter and asked for a tour. I knew a student had been assaulted in this Arkansas school a year earlier because of some news reports based on a detective’s description.
Public money Is fueling an explosion of private schools. States often don’t care how they’re run.
Editor’s Note: This story is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive their biggest stories as soon as they’re published. A decade ago, the state of Florida stripped a teacher of her license for sexual abuse of a 16-year-old boy. Last year, she opened a private school there with ease. Her name and photo were on her new school’s website and details of her case were easy to find with an online search.
This Private School Had Students Scrub Floors and Attack a Fellow Classmate. The State Still Funds It.
At her private school just beyond the city limits of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Mary “Tracy” Morrison demanded the attention of the 19 students seated on the floor in a circle. She then directed a skinny 13-year-old boy wearing a cartoon Mario shirt to sit in the center. “Raise your hand if he’s ever been mean to you — ever,” Morrison, the owner, prompted the other middle schoolers, and some hands shot up. “Most people don’t think you’re a nice kid. You lie. You lie all the time,” she told the boy.
Education Department Withholding Records on Discrimination Cases, ProPublica Lawsuit Alleges
ProPublica has sued the U.S. Department of Education in federal court in New York, accusing it of withholding public records about how it’s enforcing civil rights protections for millions of American students. The Education Department has failed to provide public records related to its investigations, communications and other work that ProPublica sought through four Freedom of Information Act requests filed last year.
Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump
The new American Dream has parents easing up on college expectations for their kids—1 in 3 are now open to trade school instead Many parents and kids alike are wondering whether college has the same return on investment it once did. Going to college was once seen as a one-way …
This Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools
This Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools
Young people in red states pick up where Charlie Kirk left off On a warm Friday night in Edmond, Okla., more than a dozen teenagers gathered around picnic tables in a park, ate slices of pizza and listened intently as CJ Dumitrescu explained how the night would unfold. “We all know the importance of First Amendment rights, civil discourse – that’s one of the …
Disabled Idaho Students Lack Access to Playgrounds and Lunchrooms. Historic $2 Billion Funding Will Do Little to Help.
Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Get Funding Back Despite Trump’s Anti-DEI Campaign
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Following public outcry, the U.S. Department of Education has restored funding for students who have both hearing and vision loss, about a month after cutting it.
Five Ways the Department of Education Is Upending Public Schools
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. In just over eight months, the second Trump administration has made a rapid succession of political hires and policy decisions at the U.S. Department of Education that could spur profound changes in the way schools are operated and children learn.
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been clear about her desire to shut down the agency she runs. She’s laid off half the staff and joked about padlocking the door. She calls it “the final mission.” But the department is not behaving like an agency that is simply winding down.
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
As AI gets more life-like, a new Luddite movement is taking root New York — At my local coffee shop a couple of weeks ago, I overheard one 20-something woman say to another: Could I ask, what kind of phone do you have? The other woman replied: Oh yeah, it’s a Jelly Star… I started Googling while they gabbed. The conversation was brief, but they talked about the phone …
Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The U.S. Department of Education has pulled funding for programs in eight states aimed at supporting students who have both hearing and vision loss, a move that could affect some of the country’s most vulnerable students. The programs are considered vital in those states but represent only a little over $1 million a year in federal money.
By Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Ellis Simani Verified, Lexi Churchill Verified
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ProPublica
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These Charter Superintendents Are Some of the Highest Paid in Texas. Their Districts Are Among the Lowest Performing.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.
By Ellis Simani Verified, Lexi Churchill Verified, Mila Koumpilova Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified
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ProPublica
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Three Chicago Schools Get Expensive STEAM Makeovers. Can the Effort Reverse Declining Enrollment?
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news. This summer, worried parents called the principal at Chalmers Elementary on Chicago’s West Side to ask if the district had shuttered the school. They had noticed second-floor windows boarded up.
By Mila Koumpilova Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Molly Parker Verified, Peter Elkind Verified
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ProPublica
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Idaho Schools Consistently Break Disability Laws. Parents Say They’re Not Doing Enough to Fix the Problem.
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Parents are increasingly turning to the complaint process to get help for their disabled children. When districts break the law, the state tells them to fix the problems, but parents say little changes. Idaho schools use an outdated funding formula to pay for special education, and students with disabilities underperform their peers in other states.
By Becca Savransky Verified, Aliyya Swaby Verified, Katherine Mangan Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified
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ProPublica
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Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. In Tennessee, police have arrested and charged students for making or sharing threatening posts on social media. Law enforcement argues harsh punishment is necessary to deter students from making online threats.
By Aliyya Swaby Verified, Katherine Mangan Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Matt Krupnick Verified
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ProPublica
Verified
100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools
Are We or Not in ‘Serfdom?’ As F.A. Hayek, in his book published by the University of Chicago Press in 1944, “The Road to Serfdom,” this may be the end of truth.The question is …
100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools
Reporting Highlights Small Schools: Dwindling enrollment has left about 150 Chicago schools half-empty, while 47 operate at less than one-third capacity, leading to high costs and limited course offerings. Soaring Costs: Chicago spends about $18,700 per student. At some small schools, per-pupil costs are double or triple that. At one 28-student school, the cost is $93,000 per student. A Reluctance to Close Schools: Neighborhood pushback and politics have left Chicago hesitant to close schools.
Tennessee’s Law on School Threats Ensnared Students Who Posed No Risks. Two States Passed Similar Laws.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. New laws in Georgia and New Mexico are requiring harsher punishments for students — or anyone else — who make threats against schools, despite growing evidence that a similar law is ensnaring students who posed no risk to others.
By Aliyya Swaby Verified, Matt Krupnick Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The Trump administration has proposed cutting funding for tribal colleges and universities by nearly 90%, a move that would likely shut down most or all of the institutions created to serve students disadvantaged by the nation’s historic mistreatment of Indigenous communities.
By Matt Krupnick Verified, Aliyya Swaby Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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A Tennessee School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of 11-Year-Old Student Arrested Under School Threats Law
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. A Chattanooga, Tennessee, public charter school has agreed to pay the family of an 11-year-old boy $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit claiming that it wrongfully reported the student to police for an alleged threat of mass violence.
By Aliyya Swaby Verified, Paige Pfleger Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicitly prevent police from ticketing and fining students for minor misbehavior at school, ending a practice that harmed students across the state. The new law would apply to all public schools, including charters.
By Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Aliyya Swaby Verified, Becca Savransky Verified
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ProPublica
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A Tennessee School Expelled a 12-Year-Old for a Social Post. Experts Say It Didn’t Properly Assess If He Made a Threat.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Schools must use threat assessments to determine if a threat of mass violence is “valid,” but they often carry them out inconsistently. Tennessee is supposed to track how effective schools’ threat assessments are, but the state does not release that information to the public.
By Aliyya Swaby Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Becca Savransky Verified
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ProPublica
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A Teacher Dragged a 6-Year-Old With Autism by His Ankle. Federal Civil Rights Officials Might Not Do Anything.
Now On Nov. 5, 1994, my father, Ronald Reagan, wrote a letter to America announcing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He and my mother had decided to share the news, he wrote, because, “In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will …
A Teacher Dragged a 6-Year-Old With Autism by His Ankle. Federal Civil Rights Officials Might Not Do Anything.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. A short video taken inside an Illinois school captured troubling behavior: A teacher gripping a 6-year-old boy with autism by the ankle and dragging him down the hallway on his back.
By Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Becca Savransky Verified, Asia Fields Verified
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EIN News
A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda: Roll Back Civil Rights Cases, Target Transgender Students
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The administration has closed Education Department civil rights offices and fired workers. Now, investigating discrimination in schools is practically “impossible.” The civil rights office has abandoned its traditional priorities. Instead, it is trying to limit the rights of transgender students and rid schools of diversity efforts.
By Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Tim Golden Verified, Jake Pearson Verified
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ProPublica
Verified
Wisconsin’s Name-Change Law Raises Safety Risks for Transgender People
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Wisconsin Watch. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. Lawyers said Wisconsin’s public name-change process creates a dataset of likely transgender people, exposing them to risks of discrimination, harassment or violence.
The Way Texans Elect School Board Members Plays a Key Role in What Students in Diverse Districts Learn
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.
Who’s Running the DOGE Wrecking Machine: The World’s Richest Man or a Little-Known Bureaucrat?
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. When President Donald Trump announced his marquee government cost-cutting initiative, he left no doubt about whom he intended to run it: Elon Musk. Still, questions about the scope of Musk’s authority have hounded the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency ever since.
By Christopher Bing, Avi Asher-Schapiro Verified, Annie Waldman Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified
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ProPublica
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Parents Sue Trump Administration for Allegedly Sabotaging Education Department’s Civil Rights Division
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Saying the Trump administration is sabotaging civil rights enforcement by the Department of Education, a federal lawsuit filed Friday morning seeks to stop the president and Secretary Linda McMahon from carrying out the mass firing of civil rights investigators and lawyers.
Parents Sue Trump Administration for Allegedly Sabotaging Education Department’s Civil Rights Division
16 hours ago A lawsuit cites a report from two non-profits – a science group and holistic parenting group – that found traces of lead and a herbicide in Girl Scout cookies. Does that mean we can't eat Thin Mints? Girl Scout cookie season is upon us. But you may have heard some concerning things about the annual …
Inside Alaska’s Deteriorating Public Schools Original
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. This story was originally published in our Dispatches newsletter; sign up to receive notes from our journalists. Two inches of raw sewage. Persistent chemical leaks. Pipes insulated with asbestos. A bat infestation. Black mold. “It kind of blows my mind some of the things I found in public schools,” says Emily Schwing, a KYUK reporter and ProPublica Local Reporting Network partner.
By Taylor Kate Brown, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Callie Ferguson Verified
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ProPublica
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Massive Layoffs at the Department of Education Erode Its Civil Rights Division Original
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. With a mass email sharing what it called “difficult news,” the U.S. Department of Education has eroded one of its own key duties, abolishing more than half of the offices that investigate civil rights complaints from students and their families.
By Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Eli Hager Verified, Vernal Coleman Verified
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ProPublica
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Massive Layoffs at the Department of Education Erode Its Civil Rights Division
3 hours ago American higher education would be in a much stronger position today if it had made a proactive case to the public for its own importance—and taken steps to address its very real shortcomings. The first time Donald Trump threatened to use the power of the presidency to punish a university, I was the …
The Office That Investigates Disparities in Veterans’ Care Is Being “Liquidated”
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The Trump administration has shut down a unit of the Department of Veterans Affairs created under President Joe Biden to address disparities in how the federal government provides disability compensation to military service members.
Valere Public Schools Superintendent Makes Up to $870,000. His District Serves 1,000 Students.
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.
By Ellis Simani Verified, Lexi Churchill Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse.
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This article was produced for ProPublica's Local Reporting Network in partnership with KYUK and NPR's Station Investigations Team, which supports local investigative journalism. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. Over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fund repairs at their crumbling schools.
By Emily Schwing Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Becca Savransky Verified
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ProPublica
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Illinois Has Virtually No Homeschooling Rules. A New Bill Aims to Change That.
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This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. A new Illinois bill aims to add some oversight of families who homeschool their children, a response to concerns that the state does little to ensure these students receive an education and are protected from harm.
By Molly Parker Verified, Beth Hundsdorfer Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. President Donald Trump was asked at a press conference this month if there were any federal agencies or programs that Elon Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency wouldn’t be allowed to mess with. “Social Security will not be touched,” Trump answered, echoing a promise he has been making for years.
By Eli Hager Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Avi Asher-Schapiro Verified
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ProPublica
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They Worked to Prevent Death. The Trump Administration Fired Them. Original
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Every day, they tackled complex issues with life-or-death stakes: A failure to get donor organs to critically ill patients. Tobacco products designed to appeal to kids. Maternal and infant death.
By Annie Waldman Verified, Duaa Eldeib Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified
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ProPublica
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Education Department “lifting the pause” on some civil rights probes, but not for race or gender cases
by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday told employees that it would lift its monthlong freeze on investigating discrimination complaints at schools and colleges across the country — but only to allow disability investigations to proceed.
Education Department “Lifting the Pause” on Some Civil Rights Probes, but Not for Race or Gender Cases
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday told employees that it would lift its monthlong freeze on investigating discrimination complaints at schools and colleges across the country — but only to allow disability investigations to proceed.
By Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Avi Asher-Schapiro Verified, Andy Kroll
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ProPublica
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The One That Got Away: This Small Town Is Left in Limbo After Betting Big on GMO Salmon
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. A village in Ohio looked to transform its economy. An ambitious company wanted to transform the way we eat. They came together in hopes of changing their futures.
By Anna Clark, Brett Murphy Verified, Anna Maria Barry-Jester Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified
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ProPublica
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Alaska Judge Vows to Reduce Trial Delays: “We Must, and We Will, Improve”
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This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Anchorage Daily News. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. The chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court told state lawmakers this week that the court system is taking steps to reduce the amount of time it takes criminal cases to reach trial, a problem highlighted by a recent ProPublica and Anchorage Daily News investigation.
By Kyle Hopkins Verified, Jennifer Smith Richards Verified, Jodi S. Cohen Verified, Mark Olalde Verified
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ProPublica
Verified
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