Two recent announcements have spotlighted the importance of public records in bringing to light what now appears to be rampant dishonesty among school employees in fudging standardized test scores to improve their schools' rankings.Item One was the news from Oklahoma that the state was throwing out test results from six schools where investigators concluded scores were artificially inflated.
Author: Frank LoMonte
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: What’s in your wallet? Maybe your college’s sticky fingers!
If you left college with a shelf full of Visa drink Koozies, Visa beach towels and Visa visors, there's an excellent chance you also took a load of Visa credit-card debt with you.A 2009 study found that the average U.S.
Onward and upward: A clinic on how to respond to an epic fact error
Page A-2 of today's New York Times carries five corrections. Sunday's had five, Saturday's seven, and Friday's had eight.
Supreme Court’s online speech no-decision counts as a “win” for student First Amendment rights
The announcement that the Supreme Court will not hear any case this term involving the First Amendment rights of students punished for off-campus speech on social networking sites left one thing firmly established: That the law is not firmly established.That is not altogether a bad place to be.Considering the alternative.In 2007, the Supreme Court allowed itself to be swayed by sympathy for a put-upon high school principal in Juneau, Alaska, who made the ill-advised decision to snatch away a humorous banner that one of her students was waving at an off-campus event.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Is Big Brother watching you — from above? FOIA suit may reveal whether you’re on Candid Drone-Cam.
To the ever-growing list of technology-aided privacy anxieties (does Google Image Recognition really think I look like a publicity photo from "Planet of the Apes," and did I have broccoli between my teeth when the ATM camera was on?), add this one: Are government drones videotaping my bald spot?In a suit filed Jan.
University of Missouri’s restrictive classroom recording policy raises constitutional flags
The University of Missouri, home to one of the nation's highest-rated journalism schools, is now also home to one scary disciplinary rule threatening the rights of student journalists.In a December 20 memo -- funny how policies impacting students' rights always seem to be enacted while students are away on holiday -- Missouri's interim president, Stephen J.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Can’t beat the SEC — on the football field or in the public records field
The SEC is once again the champion. And we're not talking about Alabama's Monday night BCS victory.We're talking about the U.S.
Illinois court: No clear First Amendment right for parent to complain about child’s discipline
A federal court in Illinois has rejected a mother's claim that a Springfield, Ill., elementary school violated the First Amendment by suspending her son to punish her for complaining about school discipline.A U.S.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Resolve to FOIA your local security officers in 2012 — but leave your brass knuckles at the door
If you are studying to be a reporter or editor and haven't taken out freedom-of-information laws for a test drive, resolve to make 2012 the year that you do.