Coming Soon: Our Big Charter School Investigation

Update: Here’s a link to the story.

For the past three months, StateImpact Florida has been working on an investigation of charter schools. Wednesday morning, the truth comes out — both here and on NPR’s Morning Edition.

The question: How many of Florida’s charter schools serve children with severe disabilities? Here’s a hint: surprisingly few.

Patrick Farrell / Miami Herald Staff

Jeremy Rosende participates in his first-grade art class at the Renaissance Charter School in Coral Springs.

This is being done in conjunction with a six-month investigation involving the Miami Herald called “Cashing in on Kids.” Check out their findings on self-dealing by charter school officials and even politicians cashing in on the system.

Other stories have included anecdotes suggesting charter schools are cherry picking their kids, and excluding kids with disabilities.

StateImpact Florida got the data (it wasn’t easy, more on that later) and it shows some interesting patterns.

You can see them here on this blog.

NPR is also airing a version of our story during Morning Edition Wednesday morning. Right now, the story is scheduled to start at 6:21 and 8:21 a.m. EST.