New Directors Join EWA Board
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

2012-13 Slate of Board Officers Take Helm

Washington, D.C. (May 16, 2012) – The National Education Writers Association is pleased to announce the election of a new slate of officers and the addition of two new members to its board of directors. The new directors are Christine T. Tebbens of Grantmakers for Education and Greg Toppo of USA Today.

Stephanie Banchero will return for her second term as president and chairman of the 13-member board, while the board’s two vice presidents, Scott Elliott and Kent Fischer, also will start their second terms of office. Director Scott Jaschik, who joined the board in 2010, will assume the office of secretary. The officers’ one-year terms begin on May 17, as do the new members’ two-year terms of office.     

“Greg and Chris bring a wealth of talent and expertise to EWA and to its mission to boost the quantity and quality of education coverage,” Ms. Banchero said. “As both the education and journalism landscapes undergo dramatic changes, we expect Chris and Greg to play significant roles in helping EWA grow and expand its influence.”

Ms. Banchero, a veteran education journalist, currently serves as national education reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Joining her in exercising leadership of the board for 2012-13 will be:

• Scott Elliott, education reform reporter for The Indianapolis Star, as vice president/journalists;
• Kent Fischer, vice president of GMMB, as vice president/advocates;
• Scott Jaschik, co-founder and editor of Inside Higher Ed, as board secretary; and
• Dale Mezzacappa, contributing editor at the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, as immediate past president.

New Members’s Bios

Christine Tebben is executive director of Grantmakers for Education, a Portland, Ore.-based membership organization for private and public philanthropies that support improved education outcomes for students from early childhood through higher education. Collectively, members of Grantmakers for Education invest over $2 billion each year to improve outcomes in early learning, K-12 public schools and after-school programs, and higher education. Tebben oversees and strengthen organization’s activities to improve the effectiveness of education philanthropy by helping foundation trustees, CEOs and program officers improve their knowledge of education issues, trends and effective grantmaking strategies. She also cultivates board leadership and develops the national nonprofit organization’s strategy. 

Greg Toppo is the national K-12 education reporter for USA Today. A graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., he taught in both public and private schools for eight years before moving into journalism. His first job was with the Santa Fe New Mexican, a 50,000-circulation daily. He worked for four years as a wire service reporter with the Associated Press, first in Baltimore and then in Washington, D.C., where he became the AP’s national K-12 education writer. He came to USA Today in 2002 and in 2005 broke the Armstrong Williams “pay for punditry” story that launched a widespread look at government propaganda. Toppo also co-led the USA Today team that in 2011 looked at educator-led cheating on standardized tests. The paper’s series prompted the Washington, D.C., inspector general to investigate high erasure rates in D.C. schools. Toppo was also a 2010 Spencer fellow at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

In addition to welcoming its new members, Ms. Banchero, other directors, and EWA staff members expressed their gratitude to two departing board members for their fine service to EWA: Outgoing board secretary Kathryn Baron of Thoughts on Public Education, San Jose, Calif.; and Cathy Grimes of The Daily Press Media Group, Newport News, Va.