In New Jersey, fewer than half of 6- and 7-year-olds in special education spend the vast majority of their day with their classmates without disabilities. That might change, though, because a state special education advisory group has pledged to examine the issue. This story also appeared in NJ.com Earlier this year, a Hechinger Report investigation […]
Marina Villeneuve
What I do: I use data and records to investigate issues in education, with a focus on inequity and exposing wrongdoing and harm. My areas of interest include the experiences of students with disabilities, immigrant students and students of color — and any story that holds the powerful to account.
My background: My first full-time journalism job was covering northern New Jersey towns and schools, including debates on school curricula and bus routes, for The (Bergen) Record. For six years after that, I worked as a statehouse reporter for the Associated Press, covering accountability issues in New York and Maine. As an investigative producer at a local Boston television station, I led a regional Emmy-award-winning investigation into abuse of students at public schools, spurring a state audit that revealed Massachusetts’s failure to properly investigate reports of child abuse and neglect. I then covered Trump's legal battles and the Supreme Court for Salon, where I reported on the loss of civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students, before joining the Hechinger Report in fall 2024. I’m a board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors and financial officer for the New England chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. I’m a graduate of Dartmouth College and earned a certificate in data journalism from Columbia Journalism School. I love being part of an outlet that reports on undercovered and thorny issues in education with a focus on on-the-ground reporting. I also enjoy talking through data questions and records requests with my colleagues — every story can be investigative!
Journalistic ethics: I do not accept any gifts or special considerations from sources or potential sources. As a reporter and member of our investigations team, I help make sure our work is accurate, thoughtful and factual. I strive to amplify diverse voices throughout my reporting process. Our newsroom is guided by The Hechinger Report’s ethics policy, which requires journalists to avoid conflicts of interest and focus our reporting on the people affected by problems or solutions we cover.
Phone: 207-358-9859
Signal: mvilleneuve.78
Bluesky: @reportermarina.bsky.social
X: @reportermarina
