Bri Hatch covers education disparities in Baltimore, Maryland for WYPR 88.1, the local NPR station. Before joining the WYPR team, Hatch reported on college student well-being and diversity initiatives for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and rural Virginia education tensions for the Rockbridge Report. Hatch earned a Hearst feature writing award for their 2022 Chronicle of Higher Education story detailing the twisty journey of a donated ‘Wizard of Oz’ dress. Hatch served as the editor-in-chief of their college newspaper, The Ring-tum Phi, and investigated contentious Title IX policies and hazing allegations among a wide variety of other topics. They earned a degree from Washington and Lee University in journalism and American politics, with a minor in poverty and human capability studies. Outside of the newsroom, Hatch is an avid concert-lover, a longtime runner, and a cozy coffee shop enthusiast.
Beat: Education in Baltimore
The COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for school districts across the country. In Maryland, as in other states the pandemic shone a glaring light on the disparities from spending per pupil-often within the same district-to the inequities in technology in terms of programs, readiness, and equipment. Along with deep diving into policies, practices, red-lining and other factors that have created a cycle of inequity in education, the reporter will find and tell the stories of programs that are working, triumphs, and hold accountable school leaders and elected officials in charge of educating the children in our state.