Idaho Statesman selected for ProPublica fellowship to investigate education system

The Idaho Statesman has been selected to receive a fellowship to support investigative reporting on Idaho’s education system.

The Statesman was one of five newsrooms picked to join ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network starting in November. Becca Savransky, the Statesman’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member, will spend the next year on a project investigating Idaho’s school funding.

ProPublica is a New York-based investigative nonprofit newsroom. The Local Reporting Network fellowship funds reporters’ salaries for a year, as well as helps with editing and research, in an effort to bolster accountability journalism in local newsrooms across the U.S. Since the LRN’s inception in January 2018, stories resulting from the program have received national recognition — including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2020.

Savransky’s coverage last year on families’ struggles to secure school services for their children with dyslexia was cited by lawmakers and education officials. Months after the story published, legislators passed a law to require dyslexia screenings and resources.

Before joining the Statesman, Savransky worked for the SeattlePI, where she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and housing, and The Hill in Washington, D.C. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University.