Phyllis Jordan

Phyllis W. Jordan is FutureEd's associate director, writing about education policy and editing the work of our fellows and others. Jordan has written extensively for FutureEd about student absenteeism and Covid relief spending. An experienced writer and editor, Jordan served in senior editing positions at the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, where she managed a team of 40 reporters and her responsibilities included editing the newspaper's education coverage. Jordan also served as the communications director at Attendance Works, a San Francisco-based national nonprofit focused on improving the policy, research and practice around school attendance, and as a vice-president of the Hatcher Group, a communications firm that works exclusively with foundations and nonprofit organizations. At Hatcher, Jordan worked on a range of education initiatives, across print, digital, and social media platforms, including the crafting of a communications strategy for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to improve early literacy. Jordan holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Sweet Briar College.

Latest From Phyllis

How Medicaid Can Help Schools Sustain Support for Students’ Mental Health

Among the Covid-19 pandemic’s most pernicious aftershocks is its impact on student mental health. Isolated at home, disconnected from friends, and suffering trauma from family members’ job losses or Covid-related deaths, students are experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression. About 44 percent of adolescents experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the pandemic compared to […]

School Reopening Debate Highlights Student Health Concerns

The political debate over reopening schools has brought children’s health to the forefront of the nation’s coronavirus crisis, often in ways contrary to expectations. Conservative leaders, pushing for in-person instruction, are citing the social-emotional needs of children stuck at home for months. Liberal leaders, urging caution, are calling for local control of schools. From a […]

Kids Lose Access to Critical Health Care Source When Schools Shutter Due to COVID-19

In some schools, nurses deliver the first dose of asthma medicine to students who need it every morning. In others, dentist technicians show up to clean children’s teeth and look for cavities. Across the country, school-based physical and mental health therapists support students with disabilities. With more than 120,000 schools nationwide shuttered for the foreseeable […]

Healthy Schools Campaign Webinar Looks at Importance of Medicaid to Student Success

Think fast: What the third largest stream of federal funding flowing into public schools? Since this is Say Ahhh!, you’re probably guessing Medicaid, and you’d be right. School districts across the country receive an estimated $4.5 billion in federal Medicaid dollars every year. That’s less than 1 percent of federal Medicaid spending, but in terms […]

How Medicaid and CHIP Can Support Student Success through Schools

Seventh in a series of briefs on the future of children’s health care coverage Summary Recognizing that a healthy student is a better student, education and health officials have begun working closely in the past few years to integrate their efforts. Recent changes to federal education law, new grant programs and revised Medicaid rules have […]