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Jennifer Berry Hawes

There is often a gap between educational idealism and the hyper-competitive reality of schooling. (Getty Images)

We’re reporters, not teachers. We were able to start private schools anyway

Jennifer Smith Richards, Jodi S. Cohen, Jennifer Berry Hawes, Milo Strain, Carli Brosseau
Large group of school kids raising their hands to answer the teacher's question on a class at elementary school. (Getty Images/skynesher)

Barns, go-karts and strip malls: The wild west of private schools that collect taxpayer dollars

Jennifer Smith Richards, Megan O’Matz, Mollie Simon, Jennifer Berry Hawes
A view inside of a cabin at Camp Mystic, the site where more than 20 girls went missing after flash flooding in Hunt, Texas, on July 5, 2025. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Alerts ignored: Texas floods echo tragedy of Hurricane Helene

Jennifer Berry Hawes