The Tampa Bay Times announces the launch of its Education Hub

Florida has one of the best education ecosystems in the nation and is home to some of America’s largest school districts. It also faces countless challenges. ... That’s why the Tampa Bay Times is announcing the creation of the Education Hub and defining the topic as a core area of coverage.”

Tampa Bay Times Editor Mark Katches

The Tampa Bay Times has announced the launch of its Education Hub, underscoring the major news source’s commitment to local and state education coverage. It will focus on every facet of education, from kindergarten to higher education throughout Tampa Bay and beyond.

The Education Hub is a dedicated reporting team comprised of four primary journalists and a coordinating editor. Members of the hub include Jeffrey S. Solochek, education reporter; Divya Kumar, education reporter; Lucy Marques, higher education reporter; Nakylah Carter, data reporter; and Jay Cridlin, education and immigration editor. Other journalists in the newsroom will contribute to build deeper and sustained coverage of education.

“Florida has one of the best education ecosystems in the nation and is home to some of America’s largest school districts. It also faces countless challenges. Teachers are among the lowest-paid in the United States. And over the last decade, politics and culture wars have shaped districts and campuses like never before. There’s a lot of ground to cover. That’s why the Tampa Bay Times is announcing the creation of the Education Hub and defining the topic as a core area of coverage. The goal is to ensure that the Tampa Bay Times is always able to tell distinctive and meaningful stories to serve Floridians,” said Tampa Bay Times Editor Mark Katches.

To help support the roughly $500,000 annual budget of the Education Hub core team, the Tampa Bay Times is raising funds through grants and foundations, major gifts and community partnerships. The hub will launch with a three-year commitment of $80,000 per year from The Parallel Foundation and support for our higher education coverage from Open Campus.

To learn more about supporting the Education Hub, contact Annica Keeler, director of development, donor and community engagement at the Tampa Bay Times, at akeeler@tampabay.com.

About the Tampa Bay Time:

The Tampa Bay Times, winner of 14 Pulitzer Prizes, is Florida’s largest newspaper and a trusted source for news. As a locally owned and independent media organization, the Times also operates tampabay.com. In addition to its flagship publication, the company publishes the free weekly tbt* Weekend and Bay magazine, offering comprehensive coverage of local news, entertainment and lifestyles.