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Jessica Calefati

Jessica

Jessica Calefati is an education investigative reporter for The Baltimore Banner focused on what Maryland kids need to be successful in school, college and careers. She previously covered Johns Hopkins University for the Banner. Before that, she covered colleges, universities and workforce development for POLITICO. For nearly 15 years, Jessica has been writing about students and families, working first in New Jersey, later in California, and then in Pennsylvania. At The Star-Ledger, her hometown paper, she covered Chris Christie and Cory Booker’s campaign to transform Newark’s struggling school system. At The Mercury News in California, Jessica investigated a chain of online charter schools that turned a profit while failing to educate students. And at The Philadelphia Inquirer, she exposed staggering levels of teacher turnover at schools serving vulnerable children. Jessica graduated from George Washington University with a degree in journalism and political science. Her work has been recognized by the Gerald Loeb Awards, the National Headliner Awards, the Keystone Media Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, the New Jersey Press Association and others. Jessica lives in Washington with her husband and daughter. She’s also a certified yoga instructor and hopes to teach in Baltimore.

The latest from Jessica Calefati

Teen girl in foster care found dead at the Baltimore hotel where she’d been living
Her death comes one week after publication of a legislative audit that criticized the state for placing nearly 300 foster children in hotels instead of homes over a two-year period.
The 16-year-old girl had been living under the supervision of the state Department of Human Services.
Anne Arundel school board members propose new redistricting options amid threats from angry parents
Members of the Anne Arundel County school board this week introduced new ideas for tackling overcrowding and under-enrollment across the district, saying they faced threats from the community as they developed the plans.
From left: Anne Arundel County Board of Education members Erica McFarland, Joanna Bache Tobin, Dana Schallheim and Dawn Pulliam listen to public comment about proposed school redistricting plans during a meeting at Annapolis Middle School in Annapolis, Md. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
Anne Arundel schools superintendent rebukes employee’s ‘hateful’ posts after Kirk killing
Anne Arundel County superintendent’s remarks come one week after Kirk’s allies discovered Instagram comments celebrating his murder that they believe were posted by a school district employee.
Dr. Mark Bedell, Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent, addresses the audience after the end of public comment on proposed school redistricting plans during a meeting at Annapolis Middle School in Annapolis, Md. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
Former Greater Grace pastor arrested in Florida on child sexual abuse charges
Eric Anderson had been living in Virginia. Massachusetts State Police detectives used license plate reader technology to find Anderson near Florida’s Gulf Coast. He was arrested on Monday.
A protest outside of the Baltimore campus of Greater Grace World Outreach in 2024.
In Anne Arundel, Meade and Crofton high schools’ growth stands out on state reading test
“This data is evidence that the work we have done over the last three years is paying dividends,” Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell said in a statement.
New criminal case targets old allegations against priest, dividing Catholic community
William Mannion was previously investigated by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, but officials left him off the list of allegedly abusive priests.
Bus drivers vote to strike in Anne Arundel — and 7,200 students could be out of a ride
Anne Arundel County bus drivers are seeking better pay and more respect on the job. The vote signals they’re willing to walk off the job to get them.
yellow school buses
Math in Maryland is about to change
Board President Josh Michael, a former math teacher, said he expects the standards to foster deeper learning and greater equity across the state’s classrooms.
Students in an eighth grade math class at KIPP Harmony Academy last year.
Found not guilty of abusing students, will Matthew Schlegel return to the classroom?
Parents are rallying to urge the Anne Arundel County school system to terminate the elementary math teacher.
Anne Arundel unveiled its school redistricting plan. Some parents called it short-sighted.
Redistricting may be necessary as Anne Arundel County grows and school enrollment swells, but few experiences are more agonizing for parents.
Mark Bedell, Anne Arundel County Schools superintendent, addresses public comment on proposed school redistricting plans during a meeting in Annapolis in April.
9 things Anne Arundel’s superintendent told us about school redistricting
Superintendent Mark Bedell said said his proposal is informed by the spirited, sometimes charged, meetings the district held this spring in the South County.
Dr. Mark Bedell, Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent, has a proposal for the redistricting plan for the region.
Former Greater Grace pastor indicted for child sexual abuse, lawsuits pile up
Former Greater Grace Pastor Eric Anderson, 80, is facing two counts of indecent assault and battery of a child.
A celebration of life for the deceased mother of five, Rachel Morin, took place at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore on August 27, 2023.
Maryland officials ‘devastated’ by shootings of Minnesota lawmakers in their homes
Maryland elected officials expressed shock and horror following the shooting of two Democratic state lawmakers from Minnesota and their spouses.
Mayor Ryan Sabas of Champlin said state senator John Hoffman, right, and state representative Melissa Hortman, left, were shot early Saturday, and that Hoffman's wife was also shot.
4 inches of rain, flash flooding possible as severe thunderstorms expected to hit region
Severe thunderstorms could dump up to 4 inches of rain per hour this evening in the nation’s capital and parts of Howard and Anne Arundel counties, the National Weather Service warned Saturday.
Forecast models are calling for 1 inch to possibly 3 inches of rainfall in Maryland on Saturday.
For Anne Arundel’s top teacher, immigrant students are assets, not burdens
“There’s a belief that a lack of language means a lack of intelligence, and that’s definitely not the case,” said Jacqueline Sanderson.
English language development teacher Jacqueline Sanderson teaches students at Belle Grove Elementary on May 19, 2025. She is Anne Arundel County's teacher of the year.
Greater Grace megachurch expels two pastors accused of sexual misconduct
The Banner exposed the pastors’ misconduct in a series last year about decades of child sexual abuse and coverup within the evangelical church.
A woman who alleges she was assaulted by a Greater Grace pastor as a child protests outside the church in 2024 alongside relatives, friends and supporters.
Former member sues Greater Grace, alleging megachurch ignored sexual abuse
The lawsuit is the first filed against Greater Grace church leadership since The Banner last year exposed decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the insular organization.
Survivors of Greater Grace and their loved ones held a protest outside of the Baltimore campus in 2024.
Maryland passes legislation to boost transparency following child abuse deaths
The legislation would require officials to promptly release requested information about children in foster care who die from suspected maltreatment.
Del. Susan McComas, a Harford County Republican, is an author of legislation that would require officials to promptly release requested information about children in foster care who die from suspected maltreatment.
After years of low test scores, Maryland schools will change the way they teach math
Maryland education leaders want to get more kids taking advanced math sooner.
Pocomoke High School math teacher La'Tier Evans helps a student with an algebra assignment in her classroom on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 in Pocomoke City, MD. Evans was inspired to teach after having a Black teacher in the eighth grade, and is now Worcester County’s only Black secondary math teacher.
Trump singles out Baltimore’s math scores as he dismantles U.S. Education Department
The president conflated an Algebra I test with “basic mathematics.”
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17: U.S. President Donald Trump departs after speaking with reporters in the Grand Foyer during a tour at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after leading a board meeting on March 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. After shunning the annual Kennedy Center Honors during his first term in the White House, Trump fired the center’s president, removed the bipartisan board of Biden appointees and named himself Chairman of the storied music, theater and dance institution.
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