Explore

Articles by Taylor Swaak

Taylor Swaak is a correspondent at The 74, focused on the coronavirus pandemic, its impact on student learning, and how the Washington, D.C. region is approaching the many urgent challenges caused by the public health emergency.

Explore

Articles by Taylor Swaak

3 DC Charters Seek Greenlight to Keep Virtual Learning

Summer Waitlists: Amid COVID Precautions, Desperate Parents & Kids Left Stranded

D.C. Public Schools Won’t Lose Money This Year Despite Enrollment Loss; Experts Ask: Is That Enough For Post-COVID Recovery?

Washington, DC Launched Free Internet Program For Students But Few Signed Up

D.C. Summer Jobs Program Will Pay Teens to Take Classes as City Combats Learning Loss

Legos, Meditation, Video Field Trips: How One D.C. School Is Using Virtual Clubs to Help Students Break Through the Isolation — and Reconnect With Friends — During the Pandemic

Bucking the Trend: How 2 D.C. Principals Restored Black Parents’ Trust in Returning Kids to the Classroom

As More DCPS Schools Open, Many Black Parents Keeping Kids Home

As Schools Face ‘Crisis,’ D.C. Advocates Worry Disappearance of Dedicated Council Committee on Education Will Restrict Oversight

Meet 2 Aspiring D.C. Public School Teachers in This College’s Inaugural Class of ‘Ready-to-Go’ Post-COVID Educators

A ‘Plan B’: D.C. Sees Strong Interest in Adult Ed Programs During Pandemic as Many Seek Jobs or Help With Kids’ Virtual Learning

Photo Tour: Inside a Redesigned D.C. Elementary School, Partially Open For the First Time Since March

D.C. Public Schools Welcomes Hundreds to School Hoping to Expand After Thanksgiving; Advocates Ask that Safe, Clear Transportation Plans be Top of Mind

Four New Members to D.C. State Board of Education Appear Set; Will be Advisors on School Reopenings to Student Literacy as Pandemic Continues

D.C. Sees Warning Signs Teachers are Considering Leaving Jobs Amid Weeks of Uncertainty, Stress Over How District Will Open Schools

Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte Wins Montana Governor’s Race on Record of Supporting School Choice; Public Education Advocates Worry About Support for Private Schools

Republican Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox Wins Utah Governor’s Race, Calling for Boosted Education Funding in State with Lowest Per-Pupil Spending

D.C. Public Schools Cancels In-Person Learning Plans Days Before Start, as Teacher Protests Grow and Staffing Questions Continue

D.C. Schools Set to Reopen in Less Than Three Weeks: Teachers and Principals Have ‘No Idea’ If Buildings Are Safe or Who Is Staffing Them

D.C.’s Howard University, Other Historically Black Colleges Receive $15M From Gates Foundation to Expand Rapid Testing as U.S. Sees Surge in COVID Cases

D.C.’s Free Internet Initiative Launched This Fall to Provide Broadband for 25,000 Families Navigating Remote Learning. But Weeks After Launch, Only 4,000 Have Signed Up

With White House COVID-19 Outbreak as Backdrop, D.C. Schools Announce Plans to Begin In-Person Learning Next Month; Teachers Union Raises Safety Concerns

13 District Schools in D.C. Are Opening as ‘Student Support Centers’ to Serve Needy Students — but Questions About Selection, Safety Remain. A Look at One School’s Plan

As Many Public Schools Fight to Retain Students Amid Pandemic, Washington, D.C.’s Charters Are Closer to Meeting Fall Enrollment Projections Than DCPS’s Traditional Schools

11K D.C. Students Expected to Enroll in Public Schools Haven’t Completed the Process — a Data Point That, While Improving, Trails Last Year’s Numbers

4 D.C. Families Faced Homelessness, Language Barriers & Limited Special Education Services During Spring’s Virtual Learning. They’re Waiting — and Hoping — for a Smoother Fall

As D.C. Scrambles to Get Thousands of Students Laptops Before Monday Start of School, Many Parents Still in the Dark If Their Kids Will Get Them on Time

Less Than 2 Weeks From School Remote Opening, D.C. Yet to Disclose In-Person ‘Learning Hubs’ to Help Working Parents With Child Care

A School Budget ‘That Doesn’t Recognize There’s a Pandemic’: Experts & Advocates Sound Alarm That DC Is Underfunding Key Elements for All-Virtual Learning

DC Public Schools Is Latest District to Announce All-Virtual Start Despite Federal Pressure in Its Own Backyard to Reopen. 10 Things Families Need to Know

D.C. Public Schools Will Announce on Friday Whether It’ll Offer In-Person Learning. A Look at What’s Happening on the Ground as Decision Looms

Lessons From a Global Reckoning: D.C. Looks to Make 14-Year-Old Social Studies Standards More Inclusive as Cities Nationwide Grapple With Re-Engaging Students During COVID

Parents and Teachers Want Clarity on Technology Needs as D.C. Delays Reopening Plan by Two Weeks

A D.C. Dad Shepherded His 4 Kids Through Remote Learning by Relying on Structure. Now in Summer, That Structure Is Harder to Come By

‘Just Above Water’: As Hallowed D.C. Summer Youth Employment Program Preps to Go Virtual for First Time, Employers Rush to Create Meaningful Experience for 10,000 Students

74 Interview — D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee Talks COVID-19 Recovery Plans, With an Eye Toward Returning to In-Person Instruction

‘This Is a Revolution’: Student Activists Across the Country Take Their Place — on the Front Lines and Behind the Scenes — in Historic Protests

From Healing Children to Call Center Associate: D.C. School Nurse on the Front Lines Doing ‘Whatever We Need to Do’ for Coronavirus Patients

Still ‘in the Trenches’: D.C. Schools Warehouse Director Went From Graduation Planning to Distributing Devices, Homework Packets as Pandemic Became Daily Reality

D.C. Schools Avoided the Draconian Budget Cuts Many U.S. Districts Are Facing: How the City Did It — and What Advocates Say Still Needs to Be Done

Students Wanted to Ask NYC Mayor de Blasio Directly How He Plans to Create Summer Jobs for Students After Cutting Program. After 66 Calls, One Got Through

Five Months Ago, a Brooklyn Mom Filed a Due Process Complaint for Her Autistic Son. In the Midst of a School Closure and a Pandemic, Progress Is Finally Made

‘An Unknown They’ve Never Experienced Before’: As Coronavirus Death Toll Grows Among NYC Teachers and Staff, Union Support Team Ramps Up Its Efforts

‘In the Crosshairs’: As School Closures Extend, States Face Complex — and Often Localized — Decisions About How to Help Seniors Graduate

Success Academy Goes Virtual: New York City’s Largest Charter Network Shares How It’s Restructuring to Provide Online Learning

As Coronavirus Consumes Public Attention, NYC Advocates Remind Residents of a Vital School Revenue Stream: The 2020 Census

Hosting a Spirit Week, Rejiggering a Physics Lesson, Grappling With Attendance: How NYC Teachers Are Adjusting to Week 1 of Remote Learning in the Nation’s Largest School District

NYC Student Activists Can’t Boycott Schools That Are Closed, but as Coronavirus Highlights Longstanding Inequities, a Chance to Change Policy Emerges

At Least Half of CA’s Districts Are Closed Due to Coronavirus. A Look at L.A. Unified’s Plans to Teach, Feed Students — and How Community Members Reacted on Day 1 of Shutdown

As Mayor Faced Growing Pressure to Close NYC Schools, a Smaller-Scale Change — Virtual or By-Phone Parent-Teacher Conferences — Offered a Glimpse Into the Challenges of Going Remote

After Record Spending and an Ongoing Union vs. Charter Power Struggle, At Least 2 Los Angeles School Board Races Appear Headed to a Runoff

Urban Design Firm WXY Is at the Center of the Country’s Most Contentious School Integration Work — From New York City to Maryland. Who Are They, Exactly?

Within NYC’s Highly Segregated School System, a Group of Low-Income Students Sacrifice Their Summers, Weekends for a Chance at College Success

After 7 School Integration Strikes, NYC Students Get Rare Public Meeting With Ed Department Officials, Asking ‘How Much Longer Will We Have to Wait?’

Cal State University Approves Plan to Add New Admissions Requirement — but Delays Making Formal Change Before Studying Impact

Los Angeles Schools Regain Control of Special Education After More Than 20 Years. What That Means for Priorities, Parent Concerns in the Nation’s Second-Largest District

Many in Los Angeles Still Processing ‘Unprecedented’ Emergency Jet Fuel Dump That Inflicted Minor Injuries on Dozens, Including Elementary Schoolers

As Calls for Integration Mount, Analysis Finds 41% of New York City Schools Don’t Represent Their District’s Student Demographics

A 2019 Education Journalism Jealousy List: 19 Important Articles About Schools We Wish We Had Published Last Year

Exclusive: Data Show Girls in NYC Schools Receive Special Ed Services at Disproportionately Lower Rates Than Boys. How Race and Gender Drive Inequities

Exclusive: Less Than 25% of L.A. Public School Seniors Last Year Took the Type of Elective Class California State University Wants to Make a Requirement

UFT President Michael Mulgrew on Making Sure Imagine NYC Schools Delivers, the Role Teachers Will Play and Whether the $32M Effort Will Define de Blasio’s Last 2 Years

Inside NYC’s ‘Imagine Schools’ Initiative: As $32M Public-Private Partnership Nears First Major Deadline, New Details Emerging About Effort to Create (and Recreate) City Schools

A Manhattan High School Reframes How Slavery Is Taught Using The New York Times’s 1619 Project

NYC’s Homeless Student Population Stabilized in 2018-19 After a Decade-Long Surge, Report Finds. But the Educational Crisis Continues

In NYC and Beyond, Foster Youth Data Still a Blank Space in State Report Cards Four Years After Federal Education Law Enacted

‘I Feel The Anger of 65 Years’: On Anniversary of Brown v. Board Ruling, NYC Panel Confronts Continued Segregation in Nation’s Largest School District

Advocates File Appeal With the State Charging L.A. Schools, County Still Not Accounting for More Than $1B in Funding for High-Needs Students

In Response to a Surge in Youth Activism, NYC Schools Hires Its First Student Voice Manager Who Says She’ll Bring Kids Closer to the Decision Making

10 Students, 10 Reasons Why They Skipped School Friday to Join the Climate March: ‘It’s Everyone Doing Something That Changes Everything’

As California Expands Ban on ‘Willful Defiance’ Suspensions, Lessons From L.A. Schools, Which Barred Them Six Years Ago

Seen and Heard: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza Tout 3-K Expansion, Tour Schools on First Day

De Blasio: How to Make Every School a Good School for NYC’s 1.1 Million Students ‘Has Not Been the Essence of the Conversation’

Equity Advocates Push Back at CSU Hearing on New Admissions Requirement: ‘We’ll Just Be Re-Creating The Same Systemic Inequities That Already Exist’

From Threats to Gifted & Talented Programs to a State Audit of Special Ed: NYC School Headlines Worth Watching as 2019-20 Begins

NYC’s First LGBTQ Liaison Reflects on Progress — Including New Policy That Lets Students Change Their Names, Genders — as He Departs for Harvard

Our 5 Key Storylines Out of L.A. as the Nation’s Second-Largest District Heads Back to School

As Los Angeles Schools Combine Counselors for Foster, Homeless Students, Advocates Worry Services Will Suffer