Grand Prize Winner Announced

EWA announced the Associated Press'  Martha Irvine and Robert Tanner won the 2007 Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting April 26 at its annual meeting in Chicago. The three-part series examined the wide spread problem of sexual misconduct committed by teachers in American public schools. Irvine and Tanner sought the disciplinary records of teachers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. See story here.

Demand for teachers sparks hiring war in Dallas-Fort Worth by Kathy A. Goolsby and Katherine Leal Unmuth Teachers who complain about being underpaid may need to find another beef. How does $50,000 a year for a newly minted teacher sound? A lack of qualified instructors in some critical subject areas has set off a hiring war in North Texas. School districts are raising teacher salaries, awarding signing bonuses and offering annual stipends to lure hard-to-find teachers. Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2008 Are gifted students getting left out? by Carla Rivera With schools under intense pressure from state and federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind to raise test scores of low-achieving pupils, the educational needs of gifted students -- who usually perform well on standardized tests -- too often are ignored, advocates say. The Los Angeles Times, May 12, 2008 Schools say inflation puts them at risk by Gary Scharrer The school funding system approved by Texas lawmakers two years ago provides no new money to cover rising costs — especially for fuel, utilities and health insurance — and officials warn the plan's tax revenue straightjacket will allow inflation to push some school districts into bankruptcy. The Houston Chronicle, May 12, 2008 Out of school, risking violence by Sara Neufeld and Annie Linskey Baltimore students who were murdered or shot had poor school attendance before they fell victim to the violence, according to new data released yesterday by the school system and health department The Baltimore Sun, May 12, 2008 Schools spend $1m to rehire retirees by Tracy Jan The Boston school system, struggling with a deficit that could lead to shuttered schools, is spending more than $1 million this school year to rehire retired employees who are each already receiving tens of thousands of dollars in annual pension payments. The Boston Globe, May 8, 2008 More Stories »

May 12: Education Reporter In this edition: Find tips, podcasts and blogs from EWA's Chicago meeting! May 12, 2008 EWA addresses proposed FERPA changes EWA and Oregonian reporter  Betsy Hammond have drafted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education over concerns regarding possible changes to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy ... May 8, 2008 Job Opening: EWA Seeks Seminar Coordinator A critical position for EWA, the Seminars Coordinator oversees development of regional training for reporters, including the development of seminars, audio conferences, webinars and other training and... April 16, 2008 April 13th: Education Reporter In this edition: Read reports on Teach for America, FERPA changes, and the public editor offers some and the public editor offers sometips for reporters on how to read between the lines of press relea... April 14, 2008 EWA Blogs about Presidential Election and Education EWA has a new blog, Education Election , covering what the candidates are saying about education as they campaign.   April 4, 2008 March 24: Education Reporter In this Edition: Get  pre-K story Ideas from EWA’s public editor, find the latest news on NCLB and college rankings. March 21, 2008 March 3: Education Reporter IN THIS EDITION: See what the public editor says about covering principal turnover; find out who took top honors in EWA’s reporting contest; read reports on NCLB and college salaries... March 3, 2008 More News »