California Watch investigative reporter Corey G. Johnson suggests some story ideas. Feel free to pursue them in your community.
How clean is your school’s cafeteria?
Your kids eat there every day. You saw the certificate on the wall. But does a passing score really mean your school cafeteria is clean? Sometimes, serious sanitary issues, like roach infestation, take place in cafeterias under the noses of students, parents and administrators, simply because no one knew to ask. You can gather a year or two years' worth of county health department inspection reports to see whether unclean or unhealthy practices are occurring inside your school’s cafeteria.
Comparing the quality of schools
So you're a parent trying to compare local schools. You've been hearing suggestions from neighbors and friends but ultimately want your decision to have some basis in fact, right? You can hunt down answers using Ed-Data's School Reports. Each report provides detailed figures and explanations on how a school stacks up according to the state's accountability measure, known as the Academic Performance Index, or API. You also can research and compare schools by their graduation rates, class sizes, number of teachers with credentials and demographics of the student population. The site also has official school websites where more questions can be asked and answered.
Is campus violence being reported?
Federal law requires that schools document each instance of school violence. You should ask for a year's worth of those reports. Then compare those to the local police reports and call logs to your school for that same time period. Did every violent incident reported to police show up in your school's reports? Ask the principal to explain any discrepancies.
