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What’s behind the hype? | Shifting standards in the world of school reform ASK THIS Again, Obama singles out as a success story a school that had been failing. But have any reporters dug into the data? Previous success stories touted by the White House have turned out to be a reflection of school-reform hype, not actual educational attainment. 
War powers | How far will Congress go in abdicating its role in making war? ASK THIS Two Yale professors urge reporters to ask members of Congress why they think it's OK for Obama not to seek their approval for the ongoing military action in Libya.
Limiting choice | Insurer does its own health care reform -- adding 50% to certain charges ASK THIS Oxford Health subscribers who go 'out-of-network' find it costs a lot more than it used to. Is it only one company that has lit up a new revenue enhancer, or are other health insurers doing it as well? And at what point will these new charges force patients to use a plan's doctors instead of their own?
| What about drones now? What about Afghanistan? ASK THIS With bin Laden gone, isn’t it time for serious discussion of an Afghanistan war pullout? And how much of a new honeymoon period does President Obama earn, if any, for the military’s incredibly precise 40-minute maneuver?
It's all speculation | Is the energy-fraud cop back on the beat? ASK THIS| April 120, 2011 Does the Justice Department's new oil and gas fraud task force mean business? Because if it does, says Prof. Michael Greenberger, that alone could dampen speculation and start bringing oil and gas prices down.
Causing trouble | Is there any way to stop the brain drain to Wall St.? ASK THIS A Kauffman Foundation study finds that the 'financialization' of the economy is luring too many would-be entrepreneurs to Wall Street, and reducing company creation. So what if anything can be done about it?
| Getting beyond the school-reform hype ASK THIS An educator asks the press to do its homework and not just parrot leaders who claim great gains in educational achievement. If reporters did that, they would have found that a 60-percent increase in math performance in a Miami school, praised to the skies by President Obama, might not signify very much.
No progress | Questions for BP and the oil industry, one year after Deepwater Horizon ASK THIS Antonia Juhasz, activist and author of the new book Black Tide: the Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Disaster, raises key questions that remain unanswered about the spill. The one-year-anniversary on April 20 presents an opportunity to ask them.
The testing shell game | Miracle schools, vouchers and all that educational flim-flam ASK THIS Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch tells reporters to dig deep when states or school districts or even individual schools claim big educational gains; chances are someone is gaming the system. She shows how such gaming works – and when it comes to asking the right questions, Ravitch could be anyone’s assignment editor.
Any mention of ALEC? | What is the GOP looking for in Bill Cronon’s emails? ASK THIS The University of Wisconsin complies in part with the state's Republican Party's chilling request for a history professor's emails – but withholds those 'that fall within the orbit of academic freedom'
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