If you’re considering sending a child to private school, you’ve likely seen some glossy photos and lofty mission statements. But marketing brochures and admissions websites rarely tell you the bad stuff — like a principal with a concerning history, lawsuits filed by families, or financial instability that could shutter a school in the middle of the school year.

Parents have told us they assume authorities conduct safety and quality checks of private schools like they would for public ones. Our reporting shows that is often not the case. Many states take a hands-off approach, essentially leaving it to you to figure out if a school has problems. Advocates for systems that send public money to private schools have said the best accountability check on private schools is that families can leave if they are dissatisfied.

What’s ProPublica?

ProPublica is a nonprofit news organization. We write stories in the public interest, including about education. Our stories have spurred reform and real-world changes for students. All of our stories are rigorously fact-checked, nonpartisan and free to read.

What do you know about private schools?

I’m Mollie Simon, a research reporter at ProPublica. We find information through news reports, public records requests, tips from experts and readers, and sometimes through pure elbow grease. For example, we took the time to compare lists of certified teachers who had been disciplined to lists of private school operators in eight states, to check for examples of people moving from public schools to private schools after being accused of wrongdoing.

This is why our team at ProPublica — a nonprofit newsroom focused on investigative journalism in the public interest — has spent months digging into the expanding private school landscape. We’ve used data, public records, court cases and countless interviews to investigate hundreds of schools, and we’ve uncovered some with serious issues. These include a school in Arkansas that’s still operating after its founder was accused of running a “makeshift ‘Fight Club,’” and a former superintendent fired for mismanaging charter school money in the Midwest who was able to receive public funds in Florida.

(The Arkansas school founder did not respond to interview requests and questions from ProPublica, and the school’s new education director said the founder is no longer involved in school operations. The former charter school superintendent told a reporter she had acted with board approval and spent money on kids and to develop and retain staff, saying auditors created a “false narrative” of her actions.)

We’ve learned from experience that it’s difficult to piece together a complete picture of any school, even if you’re an investigative reporter. Some states have stronger laws and provide better information than others. But we’ve also found that no matter where you live, there are free public records, databases and verification techniques that can prove useful. We’ve written this guide to pass on a few lessons we’ve learned. We hope it will help you spot red flags and make informed decisions for your family.

If you end up finding something interesting in your research, please let us know. We’re still reporting!

How do I begin?

Where you live will determine what private school records are available. Before starting to examine a specific school, it’s good to get a sense of local regulations.

Who runs this private school?

It’s important for you to know who makes the decisions about a school’s operations. This could be the principal, or it might be a different person or a board. The school could also be run by a larger organization. To find out: