Undercover Reporting

In 1992, as part of The San Francisco Chronicle's reporting on the growing crisis in the public schools and the crippling effect of California state budget cuts on education, the newspaper decided "that readers needed to understand just how dramatically the budget crisis affects the kids."But it would be difficult. Classroom visitors would be greeted by proud teachers putting on their best stiff-upper-lip performances, shy students and administrators complaining loudly. "Either way, I would never be sure I was seeing the unvarnished truth and readers would not get the accurate picture they needed to see. George Washington High School Principal Al Vidal agreed . . . "