Author Archive for Maura Walz
Maura Walz is a multimedia journalist based in New York City. Before becoming a reporter, she edited academic research databases, worked as an assistant to a school portrait photographer, traveled the United States convincing high school students to study overseas and sold books and coffee and several large retail chains. She's also interned with WBEZ - Chicago Public Radio, Broadview Media and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Media programs, and she has been a music critic for the website PopMatters. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 2009, where she won the Richard J. Blood Prize for Excellence in Reporting.
Public Schools as Ethnic Enclaves?
Charter school education is creating safe havens for niche groups — is that meeting their needs or resegregating them?
Are Catholic Schools Worth Saving?
The big education story over the weekend was Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s announcement of a plan to convert four Catholic schools into publicly-funded charter schools—the first time New York has converted parochial schools into charters.
Charter-School Admissions as Hard as Harvard?
April admissions lotteries around the city dramatically illustrated how rapidly New York’s charter schools have evolved into an overnight sensation. They are well-publicized, sought-after, politically active educational institutions. But what are the consequences of the charter-school hype for families hoping to enroll their children there?
