About EdTribune
EdTribune is a labor of love, built on the belief that transparency and clarity are vital to the continuous improvement of public education in a democratic society. There are more than 13,300 public school districts and over 8,100 charter schools across the country1, and decades of technological change have hollowed out local newsrooms, leaving most of them uncovered2. But the same technology that helped decimate local coverage can help reverse that tide. Because we care about public education, that's where we've chosen to point it. Over the past decade, we've built a sophisticated interface into state education data systems nationwide — a foundation few others have. We now use AI on top of that foundation to research, draft, and fact-check articles that highlight both the challenges and the triumphs of school districts and charter networks across the country, at a scale that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. We push for coverage that is as neutral as possible, focused on reporting facts and trends.
1 13,318 regular public school districts (NCES, Digest of
Education Statistics 2023); over 8,100 charter schools serving nearly 4
million students (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2025).
2 Newspapers closed at a rate of more than two per week in the
past year (136 total), local news employment has fallen more than 75%
since 2005, and roughly 50 million Americans now live in a news desert or
a county with only one remaining local news source (Northwestern Medill,
State of Local News 2025).
Sources: NCES Digest of Education Statistics, Table 214.10, NAPCS 2025 Enrollment Brief, Medill: News deserts hit new high, The State of Local News 2025 (full report).
Our Data
Every number in every article traces back to an official state Department of Education data file. We publish the analysis code alongside each article so readers can verify our work. If we can't compute it from the state's own files, it doesn't appear on the site.
Our Standards
We distinguish between what the data shows and why it might be happening. When we offer explanations, we label our confidence — citing direct evidence where it exists and flagging gaps where it doesn't. When we don't know, we say so.
Contact
For corrections, comments, or to opt out of coverage, email theedtribune@gmail.com. If you spot an error, we'll correct it and note the change.