Dueling crises, diversity on the ed beat, & a reporter’s plea to Quinta Brunson: 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (7/29/2022)

In this week’s newsletter: Schools face ongoing enrollment declines and reports reveal a student attendance crisis. Our annual diversity report features information from 11 outlets and education teams, but not from EWA. The AP and USA Today announce big hires to their education teams. And the New York Times’ Erica Green is angling for a cameo on “Abbott Elementary.”

WHERE ARE THE STUDENTS?
The big story of the week, according to us:

Attendance and enrollment declines are this week’s big story. News reports reveal that student attendance was a major issue in 2021-22, even as schools were back to normal. (A whopping 29% of Massachusetts students missed 10% of school last year.) Meanwhile, new studies and reporting show the effects of pandemic-related enrollment declines. A new report from AEI revealed that the pandemic has caused the largest enrollment decline in the history of U.S. public schools. Why aren’t kids attending school? Where are families sending their kids? A sampling of the coverage, with a few stories from last week:

🔊 City schools could lose more students, as families with children relocate (Chalkbeat)
🔊 Nearly one-third of Massachusetts students were chronically absent last year (The Boston Globe)
🔊 How schools in Seattle are being affected by dwindling enrollment (Seattle Times)
🔊 LAUSD’s Carvalho says families leaving the state or choosing to home-school (EdSource)
🔊 Enrollment Drops, Staff Shortages Cause Budget Whiplash for Top School Districts (The 74)
🔊 Homeschooling gains remain even as pandemic wanes (Commonwealth magazine)
🔊 UC Tracking Drop In Students Returning After COVID Start, Especially For Low-Income And First-Generation Students (EdSource)

Another big story this week: Reports suggest that schools have not taken major steps to limit COVID disruptions for 2022-23 (Wall Street Journal, AP). Meanwhile, the vast majority of school districts are not planning on bringing back mask mandates (Michigan Radio, Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Washington Post). Also: Education-related politics and cultural conflicts are heating up — though conservative setbacks haven’t received nearly as much coverage as they might (Slate, Washington Post, LA Times, Wisconsin Watch, The Hill).

STUDENT MISBEHAVIOR; TEACHER HOUSING CRISIS
The best education journalism of the week, according to us:

🏆 BEST: The best story of the week is Some schools saw an increase in violent incidents this year, but not always in the predictable places by Liz Bowie in the recently launched Baltimore Banner. Leave it to veteran Bowie to offer a helpful counter-narrative, acknowledging that there has been a rise in violent incidents across Baltimore County and the nation while pointing out where the rises are happening — and where they’re not. Some of the state’s largest school systems, including Baltimore City, which have served historically marginalized students, are actually seeing decreases. Why? No one knows for sure, but one source speculates that these districts are more used to dealing with difficult student behavior and are more proactive in solving disagreements between students before they escalate. They’ve also been working for longer to reduce punishment and resolve root causes of student misbehavior. “These systems are taking an intentional, different approach,” said the state superintendent. This is an important part of the student behavior story, and it sheds light on potential solutions in addition to just the problem.

🏆 RUNNER-UP: This week’s runner-up is California’s deaf community is leading push for affordable teacher housing by Kayla Jimenez in the Mercury News. There have been lots of stories in recent months about housing unaffordability for teachers in northern California, but Jimenez — who’s just announced a move to USA Today — finds a new angle and digs out details that make the story a compelling read. She describes how for specialized schools like the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, the high cost of housing is threatening to close down the school, displace teachers who will have a hard time finding other jobs, and impact the deaf community in the area. Following a tip from a former dean of the school, Jimenez shows her reporting chops, finding teachers in impossible situations, including one who lives in his van during the school week before returning home on the weekends. More than other stories on the topic, this one demonstrates the far-reaching impacts of the housing crisis for teachers, showing it’s not as simple as them moving to cheaper areas and finding new jobs. It puts into perspective just how big the crisis is for many, especially for schools that serve vulnerable students.

BONUS STORIES:
🏆 Building a Black teacher pipeline for Philly and beyond (Philadelphia Inquirer)
🏆 13 Reader Views on Directing Tax Money to Private Schools (The Atlantic)
🏆 The Single Most Important Thing to Know About Financial Aid: It’s a Sham (Slate)
🏆 Native American survivors of alleged boarding school sex abuse want justice (Reuters)
🏆 Chicago’s crossing guards are now under CPS management. The district says it’s improved the program, yet there are dozens of vacant corners. (Chicago Tribune)

TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
New commentary from The Grade

Above: EWA award winners.

For six years, The Grade has been asking education teams and outlets about newsroom diversity. This year, we got 11 responses from folks including the Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Chalkbeat, and the Boston Globe.

Highlights include the survey’s first 100% Latino/a and Asian education team (at USA Today) as well as strong results from the LA Times, Southern California Public Radio, and Chalkbeat. Lowlights include the non-participation of so many teams and major outlets (Washington Post, New York Times, EdSource, NPR, etc.), combined with EWA’s decision not to participate in the survey after having participated previously. 😒 Check it out here.

Also: Big thanks to teacher Jasmine Lane for her new first-person piece about under-reported aspects of teacher training and diversity, especially when it comes to Black educators. And thanks to Chalkbeat for publishing it!

Follow @alexanderrusso for thought-provoking commentary on education journalism all day, every day.

PEOPLE, JOBS
Who’s doing what, going where

Above, clockwise from top left: The AP’s Mike Melia, USA Today’s Kayla Jimenez, EdWeek’s Catherine Gewertz, and WHYY’s Aubri Juhasz.

🔥 Making moves: AP Connecticut correspondent Mike Melia is joining the organization’s new education team as a news editor, after having co-led the AP’s previous education team. Kayla Jimenez is leaving the Mercury News to replace Erin Richards as an enterprise reporter for USA Today’s education team. EdWeek K-12 reporter Catherine Gewertz is leaving the outlet after 22 years to start a new role as editorial director at the Center for Assessment. And Aubri Juhasz has moved from WWNO New Orleans to WHYY Philadelphia.

🔥 Media appearances: The Hechinger Report’s Jill Barshay was on NPR’s All Things Considered talking about the good and bad news from the recent NWEA report on COVID learning loss and recovery. Insider’s Matt Drange was on The California Report Magazine podcast to talk about his investigation into his high school journalism teacher’s predatory behavior. And author Amanda Ripley was on WBUR On Point talking about why Americans are avoiding the news — and what journalists can do about that.

🔥 Job openings: The Baltimore Sun is hiring an education reporter. The Mercury News is hiring a Bay Area schools reporter. Chalkbeat is hiring a New York reporter and Tennessee bureau chief. Check previous editions of the newsletter for jobs that may still be open.

🔥 Awards all around: Several reporters won EWA awards at the national conference in Orlando, with the New York Times’ Erica Green, Chalkbeat Chicago’s Mila Koumpilova, and The 74’s Linda Jacobson taking home the top awards for beat reporting in large, midsize, and small newsrooms. Other winners include NBC News’ Southlake podcast, APM Reports’ Alex Baumhardt, Will Craft, and others for public service, and USA Today’s Erin Richards (now at CRPE), Alia Wong, and Jack Gruber for their school reopening coverage. Meantime, NBC’s Southlake and Al Jazeera’s Buried Truths won Emmy nominations. Congrats to all!

🔥 #SierraWasHere: EWA also honored slain education reporter Sierra Jenkins with a memorial fund in her name to provide training to student journalists at her alma mater, Georgia State University. Haven’t donated yet? You can do that here.

EVENTS, RESOURCES

Above: American Public Media special correspondent Lee Hawkins, right, stands with Black male educators in Minneapolis.

⏰ Segments: Former Wall Street Journal education reporter and American Public Media special correspondent Lee Hawkins spoke with four educators in Minneapolis about what it’s like to be a Black male teacher for MPR News, part of a big new project he’s working on. Vox came out with a video on why U.S. schools are at the center of trans rights, focusing on how the battle is playing out in Tennessee.

⏰ Research: A new report from RAND points out that it’s likely districts’ desire to have larger staff that’s straining the teacher labor market — rather than a mass teacher exodus. A recent study on student mental health compares hospitalizations before and after pandemic-related school closures. A report from the Economic Innovation Group shows that families with young children led the exodus from major cities during the pandemic. As previously mentioned, AEI has a new report out showing state-level enrollment declines.

⏰ Media resources: For The Journalist’s Resource, Denise-Marie Ordway has a new roundup of research on ADHD in children and how the pandemic has impacted kids with the disorder. The AP Stylebook has come out with a helpful guide for language around trans issues, with lots of implications for education reporters. And the Institute for Nonprofit News published its annual report, which says that Chalkbeat is the organization’s fourth largest nonprofit newsroom with 75 full-time employees.

⏰ New endeavors: The new solutions-based outlet Verite, a Black-led newsroom and sister of Mississippi Today, is making education one of its focal points, according to the announcement. Can’t wait to see what they come out with!

THE KICKER

“It’s my dream to be on #AbbottElementary as the reporter who shows up to write about the school,” said the New York Times’ Erica Green (right) during an #EWA22 interview with Joyce Abbot. Ours, too, Erica! (H/T Emily Richmond.)

That’s all, folks. Thanks for reading!

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By Alexander Russo with additional writing from Colleen Connolly.