Education accountability reporter Bianca Vazquez Toness and photographer Brynn Anderson spent months following a single mother in Atlanta to show how she struggled to keep her children in their schools following an eviction. Their reporting, captured in heartbreaking detail, brought the mother’s challenges and determination to life. The work was rooted in reporting Vazquez Toness had done two years ago, in which she learned that housing disruptions were often the reason students had missed weeks or months of school.
Aiming to show the impact of the housing crisis on kids’ education, Vazquez Toness connected with a parent organizer in Atlanta, who put her in touch with single mom Sechita McNair. Fresh off an eviction, McNair had until the first day of the next school year to secure an apartment in the right neighborhood so her son could stay in his coveted Atlanta high school, rather than transferring to a suburban school with fewer resources. Through her reporting, Vazquez Toness brought to life new research that showed schoolchildren threatened with eviction are more likely to change schools, often ending up in one with less funding, more poverty and lower test scores.
After the story of the McNair family was published, multiple readers reached out to inquire about supporting McNair financially and were connected with her. An Atlanta property manager who read the story in local media is recruiting McNair for a job making repairs in local rentals.
Teachers weighed in to say the story resonated with their students’ experiences. A prominent education policy leader wrote: “Such powerful reporting. Heartbreaking and a call to action for our communities.”
Vazquez Toness also wrote a first-person “Getting the Story” with insight into what it was like covering McNair, piloting a new story form that will be featured on the “Being There” hub and used in other projects.
Best of the Week judges praised Vazquez Toness and Anderson for showing how the issues of housing and education are tied together, and for their great access to the McNair family, which offered readers a clear window into their tremendous struggle.
For masterfully weaving together text and visual narratives about the McNair family’s challenges to show the connection between housing and education, Bianca Vazquez Toness and Brynn Anderson win this week’s second citation for Best of the Week.
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