{
  "id": "1997-august-record-fight",
  "slug": "1997-august-record-fight",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-august-record-fight.html",
  "year": 1997,
  "month": "August",
  "monthNum": 8,
  "headline": "Record Fight",
  "kicker": "Going Private",
  "author_name": "Heather Newman",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "Detroit Free Press",
  "summary": "Detroit Free Press reporters obtained salary data for over 22,000 Detroit Public School employees to investigate principals earning extra compensation for after-school activities ahead of upcoming union negotiations.",
  "keywords": [
    "salaries",
    "investigation",
    "principals"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Data & Databases",
    "Education",
    "Investigative Methods"
  ],
  "technologies": [],
  "full_text": "It started with a tip last November: Detroit Public School principals were raking in extra cash by doing after-school activities other principals did for free. Detroit Free Press education writer Jennifer Juarez Robles realized that with teachers' union salary negotiations coming up in 1997, how much principals - and regular staff members - were making above their base salaries could quickly become a hot debate topic. Salaries and benefits are a perennial issue in the district, making up 83 percent of all discretionary dollars spent. So Robles and Ariana Cha, an intern now at the San Jose MercuryNew filed an open records request for the district's salary database. They asked for race, sex and age information, as well as gross salaries for the past two years, base salaries, names, position titles and where the people worked. Detroit Public Schools has more than 22,000 employees, making it one of the largest public payrolls in the state. ",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "pre-v2",
    "extracted_at": "",
    "verified": true
  },
  "similar": [
    {
      "slug": "2004-march-first-venture-principals-cash-in-on-sick-pay",
      "score": 0.216
    },
    {
      "slug": "1999-november-school-violence-resources",
      "score": 0.206
    },
    {
      "slug": "1998-august-analyzing-school-analysis",
      "score": 0.169
    },
    {
      "slug": "1999-november-behind-school-walls",
      "score": 0.151
    },
    {
      "slug": "1999-november-columbine-aftermath",
      "score": 0.149
    }
  ],
  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-august-record-fight.html",
  "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-august-record-fight.json"
}