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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Other states have taken similar action to help those who are transitioning out of state custody during the health crisis. -
The campaign includes $2 million for research on how e-cigarettes affect developing lungs. -
With state grant funding, the district hired 60 mental health specialists to supplement the services schools are able to provide. -
When Tierra Rushing arrived at school at about 7:30 a.m., some students were usually already waiting for her outside her office. That was during a... -
Broward County Public Schools is considering a controversial pilot to reopen school buildings for in-person classes for some students with disabilities... -
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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Two of Miami’s political leaders — and rivals — speculated about what caused the latest spike in coronavirus cases during national television... -
Florida’s largest teachers union wants to suspend state exams and evaluations of school and teacher performance as part of a larger plan for how to... -
As government leaders weigh plans to reopen amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, public health experts have stressed their decisions must be guided by... -
One million emergency meals distributed. Miami-Dade County Public Schools touted reaching this surreal milestone in a tweet on Thursday, after weeks of...