This story also appeared in Big Local News and The Associated Press The start of a new school year can be nerve-racking under any circumstances. But for thousands of students across the U.S., this academic year brought the added difficulty of adjusting to an entirely new school after their previous ones shuttered. As U.S. birth […]
Neal Morton
What I do: I write about K-12 schools, with a focus on young people and their changing communities, in 10 states in the American West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
My background: My first job out of college landed me on the education desk of a newspaper in South Texas, where I covered 17 school districts, a community college system and a public university along the U.S.-Mexico border. I left the beat briefly to report on the hospitality, manufacturing and retail industries in San Antonio, before returning to my hometown of Las Vegas to cover the nation’s fifth-largest school district, Nevada’s Clark County. I left home again to investigate solutions in schools — or “hope with teeth,” as a mentor put it — for the Education Lab team at The Seattle Times. Since I joined The Hechinger Report in 2020, my coverage has expanded to the broader U.S. West, where I get to share the voices and stories of young people in communities that are too often missing from national conversations. The diversity in the West, its mix of economies and natural treasures, our shared heritage and communal struggles along the American frontier — The Hechinger Report allows me to reveal those rich layers behind every story and why the rest of the country should pay attention to what happens here.
Journalistic ethics: I care deeply about getting stories right, first and foremost for the people who entrust me to tell theirs. Speaking with a journalist is a generous act, and we owe sources full transparency about how we plan to use the information they share. That’s especially true for young people, and The Hechinger Report applies extra care when quoting and naming them. Our newsroom’s ethics code — informed by the code of the Society of Professional Journalists — requires us to seek truth and report it. We hold ourselves accountable and correct errors. We avoid conflicts of interest and are not advocates. I appreciate any help — story tips, corrections, feedback — from readers to do that job better.
My stories are free to read because of donations from readers like you. Whether it’s $15 or $150, consider becoming a member to support our nonprofit newsroom. Every gift helps.
Phone: 212-678-8247
Signal: at nealmorton.9
