The 74 is Getting Into Spanish-Language Education Reporting, Starting in Los Angeles

The small Los Angeles-based education site LA School Report is relaunching today under the auspices of The 74, alongside a mirror site in Spanish which will attempt to dive further into original Spanish-language education reporting. The 74, an education news site cofounded by former CNN anchor Campbell Brown, had absorbed the four-and-a-half year old LA School Report — which had previously been a tiny but consistent presence in coverage of the Los Angeles Unified School District — in February.

“It was a natural fit to have them merge into The 74, as we were looking to ramp up our presence in terms of our West Coast reporting, and we’re already big admirers of the work that LA School Report was doing, really owning that Los Angeles education beat,” Romy Drucker, cofounder and CEO, told me. “This is at a time that Los Angeles was emerging as a leading reform story — a new superintendent, Michelle King, had just taken over. There were a number of court cases had that had their root in California: Vergara v. California, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. We saw an opportunity to work closely with them as they run the day-to-day of LA School Report and also serve as The 74’s sort of West Coast bureau, keeping us in the loop as the boots on the ground there.”

Some controversy has swirled around the takeover. Accusations of bias have shadowed The 74’s work since its founding last July, largely due to what critics see as its pro–charter school, anti–teachers union stance. (A number of charter-supporting foundations are among The 74’s funders, and Brown herself has been involved in litigation seeking to overturn New York’s teacher tenure laws.)

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Author: SHAN WANG