Sarah Carr looks beyond the good versus bad dichotomy that characterizes much of the journalism about New Orleans, moving past the politics to focus on what matters — the students and their parents and teachers.

• What Happened After New Orleans Fired All of Its Teachers—and Why It Still Matters to Diversity in the Classroom
• There Are No Simple Lessons About New Orleans Charter Schools After Katrina. Here’s How I Learned That.

Comments from the Judges:

Sarah Carr “probe[s] the question of what the sudden change in teacher diversity in New Orleans means for student learning, and the larger system, and also the importance of getting beyond covering education as an ideological or political issue, but as a sociological one. She quickly gets to the heart of complicated issues by drawing in research and data and, yes, some ‘shoe leather reporting,’ drawing on her years of experience covering New Orleans schools.”