InvestigateTV+ Weekend: College football buyouts reach record $228 million in 2025

(InvestigateTV) — This Week on InvestigateTV+ Weekend: College football’s biggest checks aren’t always for winning – they can also be for walking away. Chris Nakamoto found schools on the hook for record buyouts – sometimes to the irritation of fans and students. Plus, a new shift in education: AI moving into daily learning.

WHERE TO WATCH ICYMI – Watch last week’s episode.

Buyout Boom: This year, at least 15 universities have fired their head football coaches and are on the hook for a total of more than $200 million in contracted buyouts. We look at the numbers across the country and over the years, digging into the ever-ballooning contracts that give coaches a lot of power – and leave university athletics departments with big bills when they remove coaches. National Investigative Reporter Chris Nakamoto speaks with an expert in sports finance and travels to a college football playoff game to see how fans are feeling.

AI in Schools: Artificial intelligence is moving fast – and now it’s moving into America’s classrooms. A report from the Center for Democracy and Technology found during the 2024 to 2025 school year, 85 percent of teachers used AI in the classroom – and 86 percent of students used it for school or personal use. Tisha Powell takes you inside two very different schools to see how AI is changing the way kids learn and the questions some are raising about how far is too far.

Don’t Call it a Miracle: Dozens of states are taking lessons from Mississippi when it comes to improving reading rates for elementary school kids. Once near the bottom of rankings for reading outcomes, the state is now top ten. National Investigative Reporter Andy Pierrotti traveled to Mississippi to find out how the state tackled reading education changes - and why leaders say people incorrectly call their success “The Mississippi Miracle.”

Watching Your Wallet – Childcare Costs: Raising a child isn’t cheap. And in some parts of the country, parents say childcare can feel like a second housing payment. A new LendingTree study compares the cost of full-time infant care to the average two-bedroom rent in the 100 largest metro areas — and in 11 of them, childcare is even higher. In this Watching Your Wallet, Consumer Investigator Caresse Jackman looks at where costs are highest and what options families have when the bill feels overwhelming.