Investigations
The Beam investigates the decisions, policies, and people shaping critical issues like education, energy and rising demand for semiconductors. These stories hold institutions accountable and give communities the information they need to engage, question and act.
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More Investigations
How Arizona’s billion-dollar school voucher system rose from the ashes of unconstitutionality
Empowerment Scholarship Accounts launched in 2011 as a small-scale program intended to help students with disabilities. Over the past decade, the program has ballooned.
Arizona governor vetoes requirement for school board recordings
By Evan Wyloge Arizona school boards will still not be required to provide live-streaming video recordings of their board meetings, a proposal that state lawmakers approved earlier this year,…
Arizona scholarship nonprofit paid millions to leaders’ own companies
By Aoife Kane, Emily Mosier, & MacKenzie Miller The nonprofit Arizona Leadership Foundation (ALF) has awarded over $280 million in private school scholarships for thousands of students…
Press record, press delete: How some Arizona school boards flunk Transparency 101
Some districts post board meeting videos online. Many don’t. Three delete recordings in apparent violation of state law.
The Beam’s AI School Board Chatbots: We Put Them to the Test
By Lizzie Tomlin April 13, 2026 PHOENIX – Arizona school board meetings can be long, sometimes six hours on a weeknight. Parents, teachers and even principals are often not in the room when…
3D-printed weapons: An emerging threat in Arizona schools
PHOENIX – At an age when most kids are learning long division, some Arizona students are learning high-tech methods to manufacture weapons, according to an investigation from The Beam, a new…