The Republic awarded grant to focus on education solutions, cover bilingual communities

The Arizona Republic was among the 15 local newsrooms awarded multiyear funding by the Arizona Local News Foundation through its Arizona Community Collaborative program to expand journalism about education solutions in the state.

The initiative, designed to create measurable change in access to information and improve Arizona’s education system, has raised $2 million and continues fundraising to expand to more newsrooms.

“This is one of the most ambitious efforts in Arizona’s history to empower local media and tackle one of our state’s most pressing challenges,” said Chris Kline, president and CEO of the Arizona Media Association and the Arizona Local News Foundation. “With immediate effect, this collaborative will dramatically expand community conversation and launch new discussions about how to improve Arizona education for students of all ages. We are setting out to prove that collaboration at scale can create a better future for all Arizonans.”  

This award will support the expansion of The Republic’s education coverage, currently handled by two reporters. Madeleine Parrish covers the nearly 60 school districts across Maricopa County, focusing on emerging education policy trends and districts’ innovative programs. Helen Rummel focuses on higher education, reporting on the state’s three public universities and the community college system in Maricopa County.

The new position will prioritize stories about communities that face challenges accessing critical information due to income and language barriers, ensuring more inclusive and equitable coverage. It will also enhance our reporting on dual-language programs and equity-focused education issues.

After a competitive application process with submissions from 40 Arizona newsrooms, the selected grantees represent a mix of news outlets across a wide geographic area. The funding will enable these outlets to hire reporters focusing exclusively on education solutions reporting. They will cover urban and rural communities on digital, print, radio and TV platforms.

Flagstaff:

Lake Havasu:

Metro Phoenix:

• Independent News Media
• KAET-TV
• KPNX-TV 
• KTAR-FM

Pinal County:

• Casa Grande Valley Newspapers

Prescott:  

Southern Arizona:

Statewide:

• The Arizona Republic
• Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
• Univision Arizona

Tucson:

Yuma:

• Colorado River Public Media

This is the second Arizona Community Collaborative sponsored by the Arizona Local News Foundation and its sister organization, the Arizona Media Association, the nonprofit corporation that acts as the official trade association for Arizona’s local radio, TV, print and digital media industry.

The first partnership focused on Arizona’s 2024 elections, broadcasting 29 debates for races that included Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat, U.S. congressional districts, Arizona Corporation Commission seats, select county-level races and multiple ballot propositions in partnership with the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission and dozens of local media brands. The Republic was instrumental in establishing the association and continues to be an active collaborator.

Silvia Solis is the director of partnerships and community relations at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She can be reached at silvia.solisgarza@gannett.com or 602-239-4413.