Jennifer Smith Richards

ProPublica Sues Education Department for Withholding Records About Discrimination in Schools Under Secretary Linda McMahon, the work of the Office for Civil Rights, which aims to protect students from discrimination, is cloaked in secrecy.

So glad to work in a newsroom that's willing to fight against disappearing data. ProPublica Sues Education Department for Withholding Records About Discrimination in Schools, by @jsmithrichards.bsky.social @jodiscohen.bsky.social

Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...

The letter highlighted this story I did with @megomatz.bsky.social and @jodiscohen.bsky.social (and referenced other good stories from folks diligently following the dismantling of OCR under this administration.) www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Last night, @repbonamici.bsky.social and 70 other House members sent a letter to Linda McMahon and Kimberly Richey, the head of the Office for Civil Rights, urging them to address the backlog of discrimination complaints.

"We are deeply troubled by these reports, and so is the public," it said.

Vouchers, Patriotism and Prayer: The Trump Administration’s Plan to Remake Public Education Education Secretary Linda McMahon is bringing about a new era in education — and perhaps the end of public schools as we know them.

This is the best video explanation I have seen on how the Trump administration is changing public education as we know it. A must-watch for anyone who cares about schools. by @nadiasussman.bsky.social

Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...

ICYMI: Racial harassment of Black students ignored under Trump, by @jsmithrichards.bsky.social @megomatz.bsky.social @jodiscohen.bsky.social

Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...

Cases of Black students being called the N-word, taunted by classmates saying "white power" are being ignored by the Trump administration.

@megomatz.bsky.social, @jodiscohen.bsky.social and I found the Ed Dept has not acted on any racial harassment cases since Jan. 21 to hold districts accountable.

This is a blow to the conservative effort to embed Christian teachings in state standards in Oklahoma. There have been a number of efforts to push education in the state to the right, which I detailed in this story. It has been a testing ground and remains an interesting state to watch.

OK Supreme Court strikes 2025 social studies standards for violating Open Meeting Act The Oklahoma Supreme Court stuck down the revised 2025 social studies standards, finding their approval violated the Open Meetings Act.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the controversial state social studies standards -- but not because of the many Biblical references and skepticism about the 2020 election and origins of Covid-19. The court ruled the state board of ed violated the Open Meetings Act.

Nondoc explains here.

Huge day for the Columbus Dispatch, where I worked for more than a decade. Glad to support them!

I should add that we're still very much reporting on what's happening with civil rights in schools: www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

Education Department offloads some work to other agencies as Trump presses for its closure The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department.

Linda McMahon plans to move some functions of the U.S. Department of Education to other federal agencies. That would outsource two big roles -- managing funding streams for K-12 schools and colleges -- to the Department of Labor. (No announcement on the Office for Civil Rights yet.)

Oklahoma Is Ground Zero in Trump’s “America First” Education Push 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 Fi...

“You starve your public schools to feed your private schools and charter schools,” said one superintendent about Oklahoma's efforts to grow charter schools. “Our foundation was set up for a free and appropriate education for all kids. All kids!”

By @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

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 Fi...

Although this story focuses on the education system in Oklahoma, my brilliant colleague @jsmithrichards.bsky.social makes it plain that this is a vision for education, a blueprint really, for the entire country: www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Help ProPublica Report on Education ProPublica needs your help to track how the upheaval of public education is affecting schools and colleges in your community. Take a few minutes to join our source network and help guide our coverage.

Current and former Department of Education employees: We want to hear from you.

Use Signal to contact our reporters @jsmithrichards.bsky.social at jsmithrichards.93, @jodiscohen.bsky.social at jodireporter.88 or @megomatz.bsky.social at 414-207-6225.

“I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore”: They Tried to Self-Deport, Then Got Stranded in Trump’s America Venezuelan immigrants signed up for a Trump-promoted app called CBP Home, which promised a safe and easy way to leave the country, and prepared to leave on their given departure dates. Those dates hav...

Some immigrants have tried to self-deport using a Trump-promoted app. Many are still here, despite the government giving them departure dates and promises of safe travel. @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social and @mariamelba.bsky.social have a deeply reported, riveting account of people stranded in America.

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 kn...

Five Ways Trump’s Department of Education Is Upending Public Schools, by @megomatz.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department. Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

To understand the Trump administration’s vision for American education, @megomatz.bsky.social and I studied dozens of hours of political appointees’ speeches and podcasts and essays. What emerged is a desire to dismantle the nation’s system of public schools.

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department. Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she's leading the department's "final mission" to shut down. But @megomatz.bsky.social and I found it's more than that: Political appointees from ultraconservative groups are in power at ED now, and they hope to dismantle public schools.

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived. ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

NEW: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.

Chicago Cop Who Falsely Blamed an Ex-Girlfriend for Dozens of Traffic Tickets Pleads Guilty but Avoids Prison Retired officer Jeffrey Kriv acknowledged repeatedly lying under oath to avoid paying dozens of speeding and other traffic tickets. Prosecutors have dropped at least 92 cases in which Kriv was a key w...

The ex-Chicago cop who got out of dozens of traffic tickets by repeating the same bogus story — that his girlfriend stole his BMW — pleaded guilty.

But there’s more: @jodiscohen.bsky.social and I have been tracking pending court cases that relied on his policing.

More than 90 have been dropped.

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Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...

NEW: The Trump administration stripped funding from programs that serve deafblind students in 8 states. Programs' years-old grant applications mentioned diversity, inclusion, and in WI, transition. As in, transitioning from childhood to adulthood. w/ @jodiscohen.bsky.social

Live: Two children and gunman dead after shooting at Minneapolis church, law enforcement source says Mayor Jacob Frey said he was ‘monitoring reports of horrific violence’ in south Minneapolis. A massive police presence was at the scene.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has a live feed of news updates about the school shooting in Minneapolis. www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...

Well, this is a wild ride.

Albert Rodríguez Parra, a young Venezuelan man wearing a white printed shirt and a cross, stands in front of a bush with red flowers.

1/ Early on in President Trump’s second term, I spent a few weeks observing Chicago’s immigration court to get a sense of how things were changing.

One afternoon in March, the case of a 27-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker caught my attention.

I want to tell you his story 👇

Today’s must-read.

You can also use Signal to contact me at jsmithrichards.93 or reporter @jodiscohen.bsky.social at jodireporter.88. We've been reporting on education for decades and would love to hear from you.

Help Us Report on How the Department of Education Is Handling Civil Rights Cases Have you recently filed a civil rights complaint or do you have a pending case? We need your help to get a full picture of how the dismantling of the Office for Civil Rights is affecting students, par...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Education Dept. can carry out mass firings it began in March. So I'm here to remind you that we're continuing to report on changes at ED, including to its civil rights division. If you have been affected, we're listening: www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

Fossil Fuel Interests Are Working to Kill Solar in One Ohio County. The Hometown Newspaper Is Helping. A retired gas industry executive, a shadowy “grassroots” group and a controversial media company are spreading misinformation while turning residents against a proposed solar farm — and each other.

UPDATE: The rural Ohio solar project that fossil fuel interests fought hard against (in part by using the local newspaper) was approved by the state today. Frasier Solar can move forward. Here's our previous story about the fight for reference. www.propublica.org/article/ohio...

100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools Declining school enrollment has left 30% of Chicago public schools at least half-empty. The city’s failure to address this problem has come at a high cost to the district — and its students.

Chicago operates 150 schools that are half-empty and another 47 at less than 33% capacity.

It's extraordinarily expensive. The most extreme example: Douglass high school has 27 employees for 28 students this year and a per-student cost of $93,000. Story w/ with @chalkbeat.org's Mila Koumpilova.