Dear Reader,

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the spreading coronavirus a pandemic. Soon after, the five states with the largest public-school enrollments closed their schools, upsetting the lives of more than 19.2 million students and their families. Now, more than a billion students in the United States and around the world are trying to learn from home.

But these dates and figures aren’t abstract to you. You know the moment that your own life was turned upside down and how your students, and your own children, are coping.

Since the start of the pandemic, The Hechinger Report has brought you stories of how the virus is exposing educational divides, disrupting the way students learn and forcing education institutions to adapt to new realities. We’ve written about how young children with disabilities could fall behind as therapy sessions go online and how graduating seniors are frantically searching for employment in a decimated economy. We’ve published first-person accounts from teachers and student-parents trying to manage the upheaval. Our work has examined the research and lessons from the past, including the last recession and Hurricane Katrina.

What is abundantly clear is that the coronavirus is radically upending education and could potentially change the way it is delivered for years to come. This is why The Hechinger Report’s public service journalism is vital. Especially now.

We’re reaching out to you today as part of #GivingTuesdayNow — a three-day national fundraising campaign for nonprofit journalism in response to the coronavirus crisis.

If you value the work we're doing in this crisis, will you make your first gift today, to support nonprofit journalism? 

The reporting we produce will grow in importance as the pandemic throws into starker relief the educational opportunities available to the haves and have-nots. Your support helps us produce powerful stories – all rigorously edited, fact-checked and copy-edited. These are stories that might otherwise be overlooked, even though they matter deeply to the lives of vulnerable children and families and to the future of our country.

With gratitude,
Sarah, Executive Editor 

P.S. We need your help to spread the word. Will you forward this email to friends, family, and colleagues who understand the critical role journalists play in this public health crisis?

If you'd prefer to mail a check, please make it payable to "The Hechinger Report, Teachers College" and send it to:

The Hechinger Report
attn: Matt Bruderle
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 650
New York, NY 10115

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