Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

LA School Report welcomes Los Angeles education news veteran Esmeralda Fabián Romero, who will serve as senior editor and reporter for LA School Report en Español, the newly launched Spanish-language sister site of LA School Report.

Fabián is a bilingual journalist who has worked for some of the most prominent Latino media outlets in the U.S. including La Opinión, the leading Spanish-language newspaper in the nation.

Fabián has been selected several times as a fellow by New America Media, doing in-depth reporting on education topics including standardized evaluations for teachers in California, Linked Learning, Common Core, early education for Latino children with learning disabilities and California’s English learners.

“My greatest satisfaction as a journalist is to have the opportunity to share inspiring success stories about students, parents, educators, activists and all those individuals involved in making quality public education accessible for everyone, particularly among the Latino community,” Fabián said. “I believe Latinos perceive education as their real American dream and many times their best chance to a better life for generations to come.”

Fabián was the only Spanish-language reporter who was part of briefings with LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy during his tenure, including the district’s budget updates and reports on other critical matters such as the district’s legal issues.

While covering LA Unified, Fabián was in charge of informing the Spanish-speaking Latino community of such issues as the iPads program, Common Core curriculum implementation and the settlement between the district and the victims of the Miramonte child abuse scandal. She was the only Latino reporter to have access inside Miramonte Elementary School and to talk to personnel the day after the scandal went public. She was selected by the district to update other Spanish-language media outlets on the case.

Fabián also conducted the only Spanish-language interview with former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on his education legacy for LA at the end of his term.

Nonprofit organizations such as Families in Schools and Education Writers Association (EWA) have invited Fabián to participate as moderator, speaker and panelist at community forums and workshops on education topics.

In addition to her work with La Opinión, Fabián has also collaborated for the Los Angeles Times’ Spanish publication HOY and FOX News Latino. She was also a news producer for the national newscast Noticias MundoFOX.

The National Association of Hispanic Publications awarded her reporting work on education in 2012 and 2013 with the National Association of Hispanic Publications’ Jose Martin Publishing Award for outstanding education article.

In 2014, her journalistic work allowed her to become a fellow of the Loyola Journalist Law School from the prestigious Loyola Law School. She was selected from a group of journalists from around the nation who applied for the fellowship where she was the only reporter selected from a Spanish-language media outlet.

“This has been a goal of mine ever since I took over at LA School Report,” said Laura Greanias, executive editor of LA School Report. “I was not just looking for someone able to interview in Spanish. I wanted someone who is a native Spanish speaker, who really knows this community and its needs around education. Esmeralda is all that and more. She comes with an amazing passion for the children and families of Los Angeles and a deep understanding of the importance of excellent public education.”

The 74, the parent of LA School Report, has also expanded its newsroom with Beverly Weintraub, who joins the New York-based education news site as executive editor. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who brings more than 20 years of experience, having served as an editorial writer, copy desk chief and copy editor at the New York Daily News. She was most recently senior editor at Success Academy Charter Schools, the highest-performing charter network in New York City.

“Together, Fabián and Weintraub bring decades of valuable storytelling experience to our network of education news sites,” said Steve Snyder, editorial director of The 74. “Thanks to our incredibly talented team of reporters and editors in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, we are breaking some of the biggest education stories in America, while significantly growing our audience through groundbreaking ventures like LA School Report en Español.”

While at the Daily News, Weintraub covered a wide variety of issues including education, homelessness and mental health in the highly competitive New York City market. She was a member of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial team that brought to public attention the debilitating illnesses afflicting World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers after 9/11.

“The 74 is leading the way in having an honest, fact-based conversation about the profound challenges facing America’s education system,” Weintraub said. “I have seen first-hand in New York City the impact that access to — or lack of — a high-quality education can have on a community. I look forward to telling the stories of schools that are championing change, while exposing the hypocrisy of entrenched interests that are obstructing progress.”