Jessica Bakeman
Jessica Bakeman reports on K-12 and higher education for WLRN, south Florida's NPR affiliate. While new to Miami and public radio, Jessica is a seasoned journalist who has covered education policymaking and politics in three state capitals: Jackson, Miss.; Albany, N.Y.; and, most recently, Tallahassee.
Jessica first moved to the Sunshine State in 2015 to help launch POLITICO Florida as part of the company’s national expansion. She is the immediate past president of the Capitol Press Club of Florida, a nonprofit organization that raises money for college scholarships benefiting journalism students.
Jessica was an original member of POLITICO New York’s Albany bureau. Also in the Empire State, Jessica covered politics for The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. As part of Gannett’s three-person Albany bureau, she won the New York Publishers Association award for distinguished state government coverage in 2013 and 2014. Jessica twice chaired a planning committee for the Albany press corps’ annual political satire show, the oldest of its kind in the country.
She started her career at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. There she won the Louisiana/Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors’ 2013 first place award for continuing coverage of former Gov. Haley Barbour’s decision to pardon more than 200 felons as he left office.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and English literature from SUNY Plattsburgh, a public liberal arts college in northeastern New York. She (proudly) hails from Rochester, N.Y.
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Homeschooling in Florida is on the rise, and so is the variety of class offerings that can include things like surfing and science.
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Surf Skate Science, a Broward County-based homeschool co-op, has seen a sixfold enrollment increase since before the pandemic. It reflects a broader trend in Florida. -
Amid Broward County Public Schools' high-profile battle with the DeSantis administration over masks, district leaders say the state owes them more than $200 million in federal relief funds. -
It's not a final decision on the question on whether facial coverings can be required in school. Legal challenges are continuing in state and federal proceedings. -
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and anti-mask parent activists want face coverings to be optional in schools. A top pediatrician in South Florida says that means kids will "infect each other." -
With the state facing a budget crunch thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, what has been the impact of the virus on the finances of local colleges and universities? Can schools keep tuition in check?
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Many parents appear to be keeping their children out of public school, especially from kindergarten. The declines could mean less state funding for school districts. -
The demands by student activists face what could be an insurmountable obstacle: security fears in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting. -
The state is preparing for its public schools to open as scheduled next month — even as the state is seeing a major surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Parents and educators are concerned.
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Middle schoolers in Miami are writing poetry and persuasive essays about school safety policies for a student magazine they hope will convince Congress to pass laws to prevent mass shootings.
