About 1.5 million people teach on college campuses in the United States, and nearly 4 million teachers work in its public elementary and secondary schools. More than 15 million undergraduates attend U.S. colleges and universities. There are more than 50 million school-age children across the country. They all have one thing in common: Federal education […]
Sarah Butrymowicz
What I do: I lead Hechinger’s investigative and data work, including reporting, writing and editing these stories.
My background: I joined Hechinger in 2010 as an intern and then was hired as a staff writer. I spent the next four years traveling the country and writing feature stories about K-12 and higher education. After attending data training sessions and realizing how much I loved working with spreadsheets, I became Hechinger’s data editor and began incorporating original data analysis into our newsroom’s work. In 2016, I worked on a major investigation into child care in Mississippi and discovered my passion for that type of journalism. For the last several years, I’ve overseen Hechinger’s investigative team. I think journalists play a critical role exposing problems, holding those in power to account and providing examples of potential solutions to improve people’s lives. I also love sharing the data and reporting skills I have picked up at Hechinger with others and have taught data journalism to fellow education writers.
Journalistic ethics: I understand that when people agree to talk to me, they are trusting me to be fair and accurate with how I convey the information they are sharing. I take that very seriously. My articles undergo a thorough fact check process, including going back to sources directly and redoing data analysis from scratch. I reach out to everyone mentioned in a story and am transparent about my reporting with them. I’m sensitive to the fact that there may be a need to protect the privacy of people, particularly minors, in difficult situations. I follow the Hechinger Report’s code of ethics, which is informed by that of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Phone: 212-678=3585
Signal: sbutry.04
Bluesky: @sarahbutro.bsky.social
X: @sarahbutro
