In this episode, Sarah and Maddie sit down with Tom Hayden, aka FOIA Gras, the citizen journalist whose relentless public records requests helped uncover the scandal that led to former District 65 superintendent Devon Horton's federal indictment. Tom walks us through how he got started digging into district finances, what the FOIA process actually looks like, and what he found that started the domino effect that brought it all down.
A few things we discuss in the episode are expanded upon below:
- Sketches of childhood and girlhood : Chicago, 1847-1864 (Cornelia Lunt) https://archive.org/details/sketchesofchildh00lunt
- Orson Welles interview where he mentions Cornelia Lunt (around 4:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_PUUHLknDI, https://evanstonwomen.org/woman/cornelia-gray-lunt/
- Father of the year Superintendent, blames kid (Argo, IL) https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/supt-who-billed-porn-to-school-attempted-cover-up/
- Superintendent making $500k/year (Dolton, IL) https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/28/dolton-superintendent-salary-dolton-schools/
- Tom's 2024 essay advocating for consolidation https://evanstonroundtable.com/2024/06/04/guest-essay-the-case-for-a-consolidated-evanston-school-district/
- Consolidation signature requirements https://www.bettergov.org/2018/01/17/too-many-school-districts-in-illinois-what-you-should-know-about-school-consolidation/
- Test results RE: Achievement Gap https://foiagras.com/p/district-65-test-results-long-way-to-go
-Frances Willard (see the section on her conflict with Ida B Wells) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Willard https://aaslh.org/truth-telling-willard-and-wells/
