Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Jennifer Smith Richards

I pursue stories about abuses of power — often focusing on schools and education — and stories about private businesses throughout the Midwest.

Need to Get in Touch?

Tips about government and business, particularly in the Midwest, are welcome. I’m also eager to hear from educators and government officials. I want to connect with parents and students experiencing the administration’s policy changes.

What I Cover

My stories focus on abuses by powerful government institutions. Right now, I am reporting on how the Trump administration is reshaping the federal government’s role in schools and education — and what that means for young people. I’m especially interested in shifts in the way students’ civil rights are monitored and enforced at school.

My Background

I began my journalism career writing obituaries in West Virginia, then covering small-town southern Ohio. I’ve written about schools and education at newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia; Utica, New York; Savannah, Georgia; and Columbus, Ohio. Most recently, I worked for the Chicago Tribune, where my work exposed the practice of police issuing tickets to students at school, abusive educators, government misspending, sexual abuse in schools, lapses in police accountability and the mistreatment of students with disabilities. My stories have prompted new state laws, the prosecution of school officials and the creation of child-protection units in school districts and state education departments.

I’m a graduate of Ohio University and I live in Chicago.

“We’ve Been Essentially Muzzled”: Department of Education Halts Thousands of Civil Rights Investigations Under Trump

Since Inauguration Day, the Office for Civil Rights has only opened about 20 investigations focused on Trump’s priorities, placing more than 10,000 student complaints related to disability access and sexual and racial harassment on hold.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

Elon Musk’s Team Decimates Education Department Arm That Tracks National School Performance

The Trump administration canceled $900 million in contracts overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences, which partners with scientists and education companies to compile and make public data about schools each year.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students

The directive, which continues the Trump administration’s efforts to curb transgender rights, could end school-based mental health services and support for homeless students.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

The Price Kids Pay

Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School

The latest version of a bill spurred by a 2022 ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation would explicitly prevent police from ticketing students for violations such as vaping or truancy, and require districts to track and disclose police activity.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois’ AG Said It’s Illegal for Schools to Use Police to Ticket Students. But His Office Told Only One District.

Despite the attorney general’s declaration that Illinois schools should stop using police to discipline students, officers statewide continue to ticket kids with costly fines. One lawmaker will again pursue legislation to end the practice.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

Who’s Mailing the Catholic Tribune? It’s Not the Church, It’s Partisan Media.

ProPublica has traced these mass-mailed newspapers to a “pink slime” network known for misinformation and its financial ties to right-wing super PACs and billionaires.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Megan O’Matz,

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.

by Miranda Green, Floodlight, Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, and Priyanjana Bengani, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, and photography by Sarahbeth Maney, ProPublica,

The Price Kids Pay

School District With Highest Student Arrest Rate in the Nation Agrees to Reform How It Disciplines Disabled Students

Following a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation, the Garrison School in Illinois will change its disciplinary practices and provide services to those who missed class due to being arrested or sent to a seclusion room.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

Inside Shrub Oak

Neglect at Boarding School for Autistic Youth Left a Student With Vision Loss, Lawsuit Alleges

Washington education officials have told public districts in the state not to send new students to Shrub Oak International School in New York, citing ProPublica’s reporting and a visit to the campus.

by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards,

Inside Shrub Oak

Two Reporters Covering Education in the Midwest Followed the Money … to a School in New York

Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen are based in Chicago and cover the Midwest. But when they looked into where vulnerable Illinois students wound up, they found themselves at an unregulated, for-profit school in New York.

by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

OSZAR »