Journalism’s crucial role in helping democracy function is sometimes forgotten amid the clamor of partisan debate and the messy nature of the news business. But anyone who stops to examine recent examples of journalistic success — and the substantial civic impacts of various news media investigations — cannot help but be impressed by the vital role of the press.

Since the first charter school opened in the late 1980s, more than 4,000 have been established. The charter school movement is not without its critics, of course, and some argue that an approach that works in one area may bring about different results in another.

Studies have shown that inequality in the U.S. has been on the rise for decades, with the top earners enjoying astronomical gains and average Americans coping with stagnating incomes. These studies typically rely on annual income data, however, which may overstate inequality: low earners in one year may be high earners the next.

According to 2012 estimates by the World Health Organization, as many as 34 million people globally are infected with HIV, a condition that causes progressive failure of the immune system.