2018 Beat Reporting (Medium Staff) Finalist: Sarah Karp

About the Entry

Sarah Karp covers Chicago schools with heart and with smarts. Her sensitive, heartwarming episode of “What My Students Taught Me” brought tears to one judge’s eyes. And her investigation exposing how the school district is spending most of its capital budget on new construction rather than a $3 billion backlog of repairs made others see red.

Comments from the Judges

“Great representation of true Education Beat reporting. [Karp] doesn’t just offer the ‘hits’ of investigations, budgets, harassment and/or corruption, she ensures every story has the voice of impact attached — students. Thank you for your work.”

“I loved the ‘What My Students Taught Me’ piece. I was tearing up listening to the piece featuring teacher Fernando Campos.”

“Excellent accountability reporting using sound. Great job getting students to describe issues in the school … All the stories were well produced. A great example for how to do education reporting for audio reporters.”