Thomas Wilburn
Senior Data Editor
Thomas Wilburn is the Senior Data Editor for Chalkbeat. Previously, he was a senior developer with the NPR News Apps team, where he worked on large-format visual storytelling, rebuilt the team’s data and visualization tools, and led the development of the 2020 election results displays. He was also a founding member of the Seattle Times Interactives team.
Chalkbeat’s data team looks back at an eventful 12 months covering education across America.
As Colorado districts prepare to vote on school closures, Chalkbeat answered some common questions.
After hovering around 45% last spring, the average school is 39% fully vaccinated at the start of the new school year.
Despite high voter turnout — largely buoyed by student voters — many of Chicago’s Local School Councils still have open seats. Data shows schools on the South and West Side account for the majority of unfilled seats.
Chalkbeat created a lookup tool examining changes to Fair Student Funding, a major source of funding for schools.
Despite a gradual uptick in overall vaccine rates since December, the nation’s third largest district is struggling to make inroads at predominantly Black schools on the South and West Sides.
The education department on Friday released school-level vaccination rates that show wide disparities across the boroughs.
Chalkbeat is tracking efforts to restrict teaching about race and bias in schools, as well as efforts to expand it, on this map of critical race theory legislation.
Nearly 23% of schools lost 10% or more of their students, state figures show.
High school graduation rates dipped in 20 of 26 states with data for the class of 2021, suggesting the pandemic may have ended nearly two decades of progress toward getting more students diplomas.