Caroline Beck is an education reporter at the Indianapolis Star and an inaugural Ida B. Wells Society Investigative Reporting Fellow.

Learn more about Caroline in this Q&A.

Please describe your reporting project.

I am evaluating the inequities of Indiana’s universal private school voucher program, which helps families pay for private schooling with state dollars. We already know that wealthy families who have always gone to private schools are the ones taking advantage of this program, especially now that all income requirements are gone. My project aims to look at why families, who may benefit the most from the voucher, are not using them and show readers the inherent inequities that lie within this system.

What made you apply to this program?

I wanted to expand my knowledge and ability to do investigative journalism, and the one-on-one help to do my own project was also a big draw for me as well.

What is the most impactful investigative reporting tool/trick you learned through this fellowship?

I think hearing all of the different ways I could approach a problem, or where to find the data or documents was very helpful for me in thinking about how I could solve a problem.

Why was it important to pursue/publish this story idea and what impact do you see it having?

It was important to me to pursue this project because Indiana’s voucher program is about to become universal, so that means more state dollars will begin to flow to private schools, with virtually no way of knowing what those dollars are being spent on. But also, preliminary data already shows that this program isn’t doing anything to help the kids get out of the “failing schools” lawmakers proclaimed to care about when first proposing this program. At a time when lawmakers are continuing to push school choice, this project will show how this agenda of school choice is often leaving our most neediest students behind and could be furthering achievement gaps.

Why is investigative journalism important to you?

It’s important to me because it helps sustain a healthy democracy. Our public officials and government agencies need to be held accountable or we risk losing further civil rights and personal freedoms. Investigative journalism aims to shed light on what governmental agencies would like to hide and can help shed light on injustices or inequities. Through that work I would like to think that it could also lead to a more just and equitable society and democracy.