Jo Napolitano - Journalist Profile | Connect with top journalists

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Biography

Jo Napolitano is a special writer for Newsday covering public education and climate change in a post Sandy world. She spent nearly five years as a staff reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering crime, education and breaking news, writing about everything from school shootings to Ponzi schemes to the shame surrounding two jailed governors. Her coverage of two high-profile missing women led to several appearances on MSNBC, FOX and CNN. Before joining the Tribune in 2004, Napolitano spent more than two years at The New York Times’ Chicago Bureau, where she chronicled a soon-to-be incarcerated governor’s dismantling of the death penalty while penning numerous features for the culture, sports and business sections of the paper. Recognized for her sensitivity to victims, she has often been called upon to handle the most delicate of cases, writing extensively about families who lost soldiers to war, children to street crime and mothers to domestic violence. Napolitano, hired by Newsday in 2010 to write about education policy, was recently asked to take on a new beat focusing on climate change and infrastructure. She’s spent the past several months meeting with some of the world’s leading climate experts to learn about mitigation and adaptation efforts around the globe. Napolitano is a native New Yorker who lives in Brooklyn.

Content

Total articles 952

• Available on paid plans

  Gallup Poll: Half of School Leaders Say Finding a Good Math Teacher is Tough

  By Jo Napolitano

  Apr. 10, 2025

• Available on paid plans

  As immigrant students flee in fear of ICE raids, teachers offer heartfelt gifts

  By Jo Napolitano

  Apr. 08, 2025

• Available on paid plans

  Gallup Poll: Half of School Leaders Say Finding a Good Math Teacher is Tough

  By Jo Napolitano

  Apr. 10, 2025

As seen in

Company Info

The 74

The 74 Media is a nonprofit news organization focused on covering the U.S. education system from early childhood through college and career. Founded in July 2015 by Campbell Brown and Romy Drucker, it aims to address key issues in education, including teacher quality and educational options for families. The organization is named after the estimated 74 million American schoolchildren enrolled in K-12 education at its inception. The 74 Media provides comprehensive news and investigative reporting, expert opinion and commentary, and video and multimedia journalism. Its reporting highlights the voices of teachers, innovators, researchers, school leaders, and policymakers. The organization also operates LA School Report and LA School Report en Español, which focus on local education issues in Los Angeles. Through its work, The 74 Media seeks to foster an informed dialogue about improving education and addressing systemic challenges within the system.