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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The study was intended to monitor students’ language development, but researchers realized they could use the data to reflect how density of individuals in a classroom affected infection rates. -
The district says the state owes more than $200 million in federal relief funds. The state says Broward leaders are still sitting on $9.2 million from the first round of stimulus money. -
The judge said actions like the governor's executive order on masks, typically should be upheld while working through court challenges: “But we're not in normal times, We're in a pandemic.” -
Students who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 may not be able to attend school if classmates aren't wearing masks, their parents argue. -
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has recommended both districts be punished, which could include withholding funds or even removal of leaders from office.
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Dr. Aileen Marty says Miami-Dade is having its worst surge since the pandemic began: “I will not kowtow to dictates that damage the health and welfare of our society, no matter what kind of pressure is put on us." -
After a largely procedural Zoom hearing Friday, a state judge scheduled a Thursday hearing unless he decides to dismiss the case beforehand. -
As legal battles heat up, the Department of Education will consider expanding the "hope scholarship" to provide access to vouchers for families against mask mandates. -
The Broward County School Board is defying Gov. Ron DeSantis by requiring masks, triggering yet another battle between local elected officials and state leaders over COVID-19 policy. -
The statewide chapter of No Kid Hungry, a national organization tackling childhood food insecurity, has seen more requests for grants to support transporting food directly to students and families.
