Report Confirms Columbia Ignored Decades of Doctor’s Sexual Abuse Columbia commissioned the report after ProPublica’s investigation into how the university protected former OB-GYN Robert Hadden. The school also announced the resignation of two top doctors who were i...

Another update:

After 2+ years, Columbia University just released its external review that details the “hierarchal institutional culture” that allowed former OB-GYN Robert Hadden to abuse patients for more than two decades. @laurabeil.bsky.social @propublica.org

www.propublica.org/article/colu...

These Women Exposed Prison Sexual Abuse. Now ICE Wants to Deport Them. Federal protections against detention and deportation for sexual abuse survivors have deteriorated under Trump.

My latest for @truthout.org examines ICE’s efforts to deport women who survived & exposed sexual abuse at FCI Dublin

truthout.org/articles/the...

New York Attorney General is Investigating Columbia for Allowing Predatory Doctor to See Patients Despite Warnings In 2023, ProPublica revealed that Columbia University had ignored women who accused OB-GYN Robert Hadden of sexual assault, enabling the doctor's abuse for decades. Survivors say they hope school offi...

ProPublica investigations can resonate for years

In 2023, we revealed how Columbia Univ had let an OB-GYN still treat patients despite despite decades of warnings he sexually assaulted them

Now, the NY AG is investigating

www.propublica.org/article/colu...

by @biancafortis.bsky.social

New York Attorney General is Investigating Columbia for Allowing Predatory Doctor to See Patients Despite Warnings In 2023, ProPublica revealed that Columbia University had ignored women who accused OB-GYN Robert Hadden of sexual assault, enabling the doctor's abuse for decades. Survivors say they hope school offi...

Just over 2 years after we reported that Columbia University had enabled a predatory OB-GYN to sexually abuse patients for more than 20 years, the New York AG's office is investigating the university’s handling of the case. @laurabeil.bsky.social @propublica.org
www.propublica.org/article/colu...

Incarcerated Women Featured in True Crime Media Face Flood of Sexual Harassment Incarcerated women are being made involuntary performers in a spectacle that attracts men who dehumanize them.

truthout.org/articles/inc...

With a Veteran Oil and Gas Lobbyist Nominated To Lead the BLM, Westerners Worry About Wildlife and Renewable Energy - Inside Climate News Kathleen Sgamma, who led the Western Energy Alliance, spent decades arguing against stricter oil and gas regulations, and views renewable energy as too unreliable to ever power the nation’s grids.

Kathleen Sgamma’s nomination to lead the BLM has Western enviros worried about conservation and renewable energy rollbacks on public land. The Fossil fuel industry expects her to be simpatico to more drilling. Read my coverage for @insideclimate insideclimatenews.org/news/1202202...

The Department of Education Forced Idaho to Stop Denying Disabled Students an Education. Then Trump Gutted Its Staff. For years, the Education Department was the only agency that could ensure states would improve conditions for disabled children. Now, Trump’s cuts threaten to hamper its oversight.

The Department of Education Forced Idaho to Stop Denying Disabled Students an Education. Then Trump Gutted Its Staff. by @beccasavransky.bsky.social @idahostatesman.com

Arcane Accounting Rule Is Draining Millions From New York Classrooms There are nearly 4,000 outstanding claims currently in a queue that stretches back more than a decade.

Here's something that *didn't* make it into the NY state budget.

NY owes school districts $300+ million in unpaid claims going back more than a decade, and there's no plan to pay it off. @nysfocus.bsky.social

nysfocus.com/2025/05/13/n...

Three-fourths of NSF funding cuts hit education More research terminations expected

Three-fourths of NSF funding cuts hit education

Voting Begins in Teachers Union Elections As Insurgents Vie to Unseat Mulgrew The longtime UFT president’s role in approving the loathed Medicare Advantage cost-savings switch of retiree health insurance has rival candidates gunning to dislodge him.

The longtime UFT president’s role in approving the loathed Medicare Advantage cost-savings switch of retiree health insurance has rival candidates gunning to dislodge him.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/12/u...

Exclusive | Andrew Cuomo and other NYC mayoral candidates ‘teach’ for a day in UFT ‘stunt’ — while breaking school rules NYC mayoral candidates vying for an endorsement from the powerful teachers’ union were forced to participate in a “stunt” that apparently violates long-standing rules, The Post has learned.

"The DOE acknowledged that candidates are not permitted to visit schools as a condition for political endorsement by any group, but said regulations carve out 'allowable conditions' for visits. Spokespersons for the DOE and City Hall refused to specify the conditions."
nypost.com/2025/05/10/u...

What’s in the 2025 New York State Budget? Here’s Everything You Need… Our searchable database breaks down what was proposed and what made it in this year's budget among key topics like education, family policy, criminal…

After a MASSIVE lift poring over thousands of pages of the NYS budget, the team at @nysfocus.bsky.social has put together this comprehensive budget guide. It's in-depth, searchable, and easy to understand — completely the opposite of how the state presents it. nysfocus.com/2025/05/10/n...

Important updates here on where things landed with education in NY’s budget. Cellphone ban (big!) and a wild backroom deal to roll back standards for yeshivas.

Albany’s Blueprint for Schools: Cell‑Free Halls, Looser Yeshiva… Hochul’s budget includes $37 billion for education, but the state Education Department is slamming one policy change as “educational malpractice” and a…

It's more than a month late, but we've finally got a state budget!

In our education round-up: a statewide cellphone ban, rollbacks for substantial equivalency and Foundation Aid *finally* gets an update @nysfocus.bsky.social nysfocus.com/2025/05/09/n...

NYC schools to receive $314 million less due to tweaks to state funding formula “A formula once considered among the most progressive in the nation is now being dismantled,” one advocacy group said. City schools will still receive a Foundation Aid increase, however.

New state formula means $314 million less for NYC schools, but city still gets Foundation Aid hike
www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/05/08/found...

Internal VA Emails Reveal How Trump Cuts Jeopardize Veterans’ Care, Including To “Life-Saving Cancer Trials” Despite a congressional mandate to expand care for veterans, internal Veterans Affairs messages obtained by ProPublica paint a stark portrait of how chaotic cost cutting has already imperiled tests of...

NEW INVESTIGATION from me and @vernalcoleman.bsky.social:

Internal emails show doctors and others at VA hospitals around the country begging for help as cuts hurt veterans' care, including "live-saving cancer trials."

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

5 Key Takeaways: How Yonkers Mayor’s Family Profited from His… Nick Spano went from prison sentence to multimillion-dollar lobbying comeback.

Yonkers political insiders have long whispered about how Mayor Mike Spano's administration interacts with a lobbying firm run by two other Spano brothers.

Here are 5 takeaways from our investigation that shed light on those details:

New York’s School Districts Are Shrinking — But Their Financial… New York’s comptroller has flagged 22 school districts as fiscally stressed — up sharply from last year.

ICYMI: New York's population is declining steadily, and it's having a major financial impact on schools. @nysfocus.bsky.social
nysfocus.com/2025/05/02/n...

When kids are evicted, they often lose both home and school Children threatened with eviction are more likely to end up in another district or transfer to another school, often one with less funding, more poverty and lower test scores.

When kids are evicted, they often lose both home and school

Community Education Council elections create fresh headaches after city pauses voting The city Education Department suspended voting Friday to address “technical issues” with voting for the parent councils. Several parents reported glitches and mistakes in the online voting system.

‘Technical issues’ take NYC parent council elections offline on first day of voting
www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/25/paren...

City College Cops Pepper Spray Students Setting Up ‘Liberated Zone’ The police quickly forced the students off of the CUNY campus in Harlem, and the school is now checking IDs before letting people enter.

CUNY public safety officers and the NYPD quickly quashed an attempt by students to establish a ‘Liberated Zone’ on the quad of City College of New York on Thursday afternoon.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/24/c...

omg

NYC needs thousands more teachers. Can it find them within the system? Education Department officials are hoping that education-focused programs at high schools can help the city creatively address a historic teacher hiring challenge.

NYC needs thousands more teachers. Can it grow them from the ground up?
www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/23/amid-...

Trump Administration Texted College Professors’ Personal Phones to Ask If They’re Jewish “Barnard was not given advance notice of this outreach,” the college’s general counsel wrote in an email to faculty.

The federal government is making lists of Jews.

At Barnard College.

In 2025.

theintercept.com/2025/04/23/t...

The Mystery of ICE’s Unidentifiable Arrests In early March, the agency announced that it had arrested forty-eight people in New Mexico—a month later, their identities and whereabouts remain unknown.

In March, 48 people were arrested in New Mexico, according to an ICE press release. Why is nothing known about who was arrested or their whereabouts?

There's evidence that this happens in other states, too.

Reporters in other states: Let's talk! We'd love to help duplicate this investigation across the country.

chris@nysfocus.com

The 5 books are:

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold
Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres

The school board chose to retain them, a decision NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa sided with: www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/vo...

This has been an ongoing battle since the fall of 2023, when the plaintiffs first asked the district to remove the books from the school library: www.whec.com/top-news/cly...

Moms for Liberty of Wayne County and the Rev. Jacob Marchitell just lost their legal battle to have five books removed from the Clyde-Savannah School District

Here’s the decision from the court, issued last week: