Nineteen winners of John Swett Awards

By Mike Myslinski

Attendees at the awards ceremony give a standing ovation for UTLA member Faye Ireland.

A look at one man’s crusade to donate free school supplies to 150,000 needy Bay Area students; reports of how charter schools in Monterey and Chico segregated some students; coverage of the fallout from pink slips issued for thousands of Los Angeles educators — these are among the works honored by CTA’s 52nd annual John Swett Awards for Media Excellence, recognizing outstanding achievements in reporting and interpreting public education issues during 2010.

The 19 winners were chosen from 80 entries by an independent panel of media professionals. The winners received their awards during a reception in their honor June 3 at CTA’s State Council meeting in Los Angeles.

“These winners have documented with great skill and compassion the challenges and victories teachers witness in our classrooms every day,” said CTA President David A. Sanchez.

The winners honored for work appearing in 2010 are:

Newspapers

Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle , for her feature story looking at the harsh realities and costs faced by three UC Berkeley students.

Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, for continuous coverage of Bay Area education issues.

Sandy Banks, Los Angeles Times, for her feature column interview with a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who repudiated her negative ranking given by a controversial system devised by the Los Angeles Times to rank educators in the district.

Connie Llanos, Los Angeles Daily News, for her series of stories about the upheavals caused by nearly 5,000 pink slips issued for LAUSD educators.

Hannah Dreier, Contra Costa Times , for her profile of a UC Berkeley graduate whose nonprofit “K to College” program partnered with dozens of Bay Area school districts to pass out 150,000 free bags of school supplies to lower-income students.

Claudia Melendez Salinas, Monterey County Herald, for continuous coverage of local education issues, including a study about charter schools being more segregated than traditional public schools, and how Latinos were underrepresented in Monterey County charters.

Margaret Lavin, San Mateo County Times, for her popular weekly column “Elementary, My Dears.”

Neil Gonzales, San Mateo County Times , for a feature story about API scores for San Mateo County schools and how per-pupil funding is tied to resources and achievement.

Rob Rogers, Marin Independent Journal , for his news story analyzing the salaries of Marin County superintendents.

Chris Vongsarath, Campbell Reporter , for continuous coverage of local education issues.

Dick Sparrer, Los Gatos Weekly-Times, for a humorous column recalling how he accidentally ate his son’s science project.

Leslie Layton, Chico News and Review , for her news feature story about local charter schools creating an educational divide, with English learners being underrepresented at all but one of 10 Chico charter schools last year.

The Saratoga News , for capturing the variety of local events and student voices in local schools on a consistent basis, such as in a special section profiling the accomplishments of the high-achieving Saratoga High School class of 2010.

Journals, Magazines, Websites

Kristina Rizga, motherjones.com , for her series of sensitive stories about struggles and triumphs at Mission High School in San Francisco, where she was embedded for a year.

Anthony Cody, Education Week blogger and teacher, for his “Living in Dialogue” blog entries about vital school issues and protests over funding cuts.

Louis Freedberg, www.californiawatch.org, for continuous coverage of education issues.

Radio

John North, KCLU Radio, Thousand Oaks, for a locally produced news story “K-12: On the Edge” that looked at the impacts of education cuts and included interviews with teachers.

Television

Maria Leticia Gomez, KDTV, the Univision affiliate in San Francisco, for her news feature segment about education cuts and how Hispanic families are pushing back to protect public schools.

KTVU, a Fox affiliate in Oakland, for its coverage of last year’s statewide March 4 Day of Action.