When Voice of San Diego education reporter Mario Koran began asking questions about San Diego Unified School District Trustee Marne Foster, district officials acted indignant.

It was August, 2015. Foster was an outspoken advocate for underrepresented students in the district with backing from the powerful teachers union. At the time, she was raising money for a re-election bid observers believed she would win in a landslide.

But there was another side to Foster. As summer vacation ended and students returned to classrooms, Koran published a detailed story showing how Foster used her authority as school trustee to benefit her own children, who attended San Diego Unified schools.

In honor of Voice of San Diego’s 20th anniversary, we’re looking back at the stories we broke that had a treme

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