Tenacious AP reporting bypasses official stonewalling to expose a failing system for incarcerated youth

By Bianca Vázquez Toness  

To investigate Florida’s online school for incarcerated youth, education reporter Bianca Vázquez Toness faced official stonewalling, with no access to detention centers or public records. Communications with students were monitored, making interviews nearly impossible. To overcome these hurdles, Vázquez Toness developed sources with families, obtained detainees’ letters to lawmakers and patiently waited for a key student to be released to interview him in person.

While the state promoted the program as a solution, her investigation uncovered a disaster: the lack of in-person teachers led to such frustration that students got into more trouble, directly extending their sentences. This exclusive national scoop, linking poor education to prolonged incarceration, went beyond where other outlets had gone. The report sparked a nationwide conversation among educators, prompted a family to seek a legal hearing for unmet special education needs and stood as a powerful piece of accountability journalism for a forgotten population.