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The School I Deserve: Six Young Refugees and Their Fight for Equality in America (Available now from Beacon Press)

“Laden with compassion and detailed insights into the practices that threaten equal access to education, [The School I Deserve] is an eye-opening account of a precedent-setting case.” —Publishers Weekly

“An eyebrow-raising report on education that is both enraging and heartbreaking.” —Kirkus

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Jo Napolitano spent nearly two decades reporting for The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday before winning a Spencer Education Fellowship to Columbia University in 2016: She was paid to attend the Graduate School of Journalism so she could write a long-form piece on young immigrants. 

That story morphed into a book. The School I Deserve: Six Young Refugees and Their Fight for Equality in America was published by Beacon Press in Spring 2021. A sought-after public speaker, Napolitano lectures across the country about the often-overlooked potential of newcomer students.

And while she has reported on many topics throughout her award-winning career, education remains her primary focus, and for good reason: It was the only means through which she would escape poverty. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Napolitano was placed in an orphanage where she nearly died of starvation before she was adopted by a blue-collar family from Long Island. 

Raised by a single parent, she is a first-generation college graduate having earned her bachelor’s degree from Medill at Northwestern University. 

Napolitano lives in New York City and writes for The 74, an award-winning education-focused news site that often partners with other, larger news organizations to showcase writers’ work: For example, her on-the-ground account of Ukrainian and Russian refugees crossing into San Diego from Tijuana after the outbreak of war ran in The Guardian. 

Napolitano is a two-time Education Writers Association Fellow (2020 and 2024) and is also a grantee from the Fund for Investigative Journalism (2020). 

She believes no child’s life should be left to chance. 

Young immigrants have a tremendous amount to offer. These videos, filmed as I was writing my book on educational discrimination in the nation’s public schools, were made to chronicle their plight and highlight their potential.