The Houston Chronicle is seeking an ambitious education reporter to cover one of the country’s largest and most dynamic public education systems. This reporter will examine the policies, demographic shifts and political forces reshaping schools across the Houston region, helping audiences understand not only what is changing, but what those changes mean for students, families and educators.
Moving beyond a traditional district beat, this reporter will focus on the suburban districts where many of the Houston region’s biggest education stories are unfolding. The reporter will identify emerging trends across districts, produce accountability journalism that serves families and connect local developments to the broader forces reshaping public education in Texas.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead education coverage across Greater Houston, focusing on the systems, policies and regional trends shaping public education rather than a traditional district-by-district beat.
- Develop ambitious reporting from major districts including Aldine, Cypress-Fairbanks, Katy and Spring ISDs, using those communities to illuminate broader regional and statewide issues.
- Track enrollment trends, demographic shifts and student outcomes, with particular attention to immigrant students, multilingual learners, and students receiving special education services.
- Break news on major developments affecting schools across the region while producing scoops that explain why decisions matter to students, families and taxpayers.
- Produce a mix of breaking news, scoops and utility content that breaks down complex topics.
We’re Looking for Someone Who
- Has at least 3 years of relevant journalism experience covering education, government, public policy or another complex accountability beat.
- Is an aggressive, source-driven reporter who consistently breaks news and develops deep relationships across communities and institutions.
- Is comfortable interpreting data, budgets, legislation and public records and translating complex issues into accessible journalism.
- Understands how education intersects with immigration, economics, workforce development, housing and demographic change.
- Has strong news judgment and can move confidently between fast-paced breaking news and longer-term reporting
- Thrives in a collaborative newsroom and enjoys working across teams to produce ambitious journalism.
- Brings curiosity, creativity and a strong digital mindset to storytelling, using a range of formats to reach and engage audiences.
- Is fluent in Spanish or has professional working proficiency strongly preferred, with the ability to develop sources and conduct reporting in Spanish.
About the Houston Chronicle:
The Houston Chronicle, recognized for its Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, serves its 2.3 million residents with content and marketing solutions across two of Houston’s largest websites — HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com, along with our magazine, television and newspaper brands. Our mission is to spark conversations that inspire action to create a better Houston. All our content and the innovative business solutions we provide invite Houstonians to join conversations about a community we’ve been committed to covering and helping prosper for more than 120 years. The community we all call home.
About Hearst Newspapers:
With 2,500 employees across the nation, HNP encompasses a network of 24 daily and 52 weekly publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union, several top digital-only news and lifestyle sites, marketing services businesses, and entertainment businesses such as King Features Syndicate.
At HNP, we are investing in new and innovative ways to tell stories – growing newsrooms, diversifying tools, evolving platforms – to support the millions of people who trust us each month to help them make decisions, take action and be inspired.
Be a part of something bigger – your headline awaits.
Recognizing the diverse needs of our candidates, if you are interested in applying for employment and need assistance or an accommodation to use our website or regarding the application process, please contact us by email at [email protected]. Please do not use this email address to inquire about the status of applications. We will only respond to inquiries concerning requests for a reasonable accommodation through this email address.
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Skills Required
- Minimum 3 years of relevant journalism experience covering education, government, public policy, or another complex accountability beat.
- Aggressive, source-driven reporting skills with a track record of breaking news and developing deep community and institutional relationships.
- Comfortable interpreting data, budgets, legislation and public records and translating complex issues into accessible journalism.
- Experience tracking enrollment trends, demographic shifts, and student outcomes, including immigrant students, multilingual learners, and students receiving special education services.
- Strong news judgment with ability to handle both fast-paced breaking coverage and longer-term reporting projects.
- Thrives in a collaborative newsroom and works across teams to produce ambitious journalism.
- Curiosity, creativity and a strong digital storytelling mindset using a range of formats to engage audiences.
- Fluent in Spanish or professional working proficiency to develop sources and conduct reporting in Spanish.
Hearst Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Hearst and has not been reviewed or approved by Hearst.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as comprehensive, including medical plan choice, full in-network preventive coverage, dental and vision, telemedicine, prescription coverage, and fertility resources. Mental-health resources and other wellbeing services (e.g., therapy sessions, crisis support, virtual physical therapy, and chronic-condition programs) further strengthen the health offering.
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Retirement Support — Retirement support is positioned as meaningful through a 401(k) plan with company matching and Hearst covering plan administration fees. Performance bonuses are also noted as available in some roles, adding an additional rewards component beyond base pay.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off benefits include paid holidays, paid sick days, and vacation time with a commonly cited annual range, alongside paid parental leave and family medical leave. A remote work program and flexibility signals are also included as part of the overall rewards experience.
Hearst Insights
What We Do
Hearst is a leading global, diversified media, information and services company with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; global financial services leader Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; transportation assets including CAMP Systems International, a major provider of software-as-a-service solutions for managing maintenance of jets and helicopters; 33 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union (Albany, New York); more than 300 magazines around the world, including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men's Health and Car and Driver, and digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital entertainment companies such as Complex Networks.
