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Elaine Korry

Elaine Korry is an NPR contributor based in San Francisco. From August 2004-June 2007 she worked as an NPR senior reporter covering social policy for NPR, with a focus on education, and on the lives of the nation's most vulnerable citizens — the homeless, those living in poverty, working in low wage positions, and trying to find their way to a more stable life.

In 2007, she reported on hospitals struggling to serve chronically homeless people in Los Angeles; the debate over pulling welfare mothers out of school in favor of low-wage jobs; working families with children driven from San Francisco because of the spiraling cost of housing; and proposed budget cuts to literacy programs for immigrant families.

Prior to covering social policy issues, Elaine covered business and economics for NPR for 14 years. She has been awarded numerous reporting fellowships in social policy and education from the Hechinger Institute, Casey Journalism Center, and Wharton School of Business. She attended Rider University in New Jersey, and worked in public radio for 10 years prior to coming to NPR.

  • President Bush is expected to announce a large increase in funding for the study of foreign languages considered critical to national security such as Arabic, Korean and Chinese. Much of the money reportedly will go to the Pentagon, to beef up language training at military schools. A big chunk of the funding should also flow to colleges and universities.
  • A new government mandate requires schools and colleges that receive federal funding to provide some sort of educational program on Constitution Day. That's the day of the Constitution's signing in 1787. The date is Sept. 17, which falls on a Saturday this year, so they're allowed to plan their events for Friday or early next week.
  • For low-income families, keeping babies clean and dry can be an expensive obstacle. A program in Boston that offers working poor families free diapers is easing some of the frustrations of parents.
  • The No Child Left Behind Act requires low-income schools that haven't met performance targets for three years in a row to provide tutoring services to their students. The tutoring industry is benefiting from the influx of federal money, but critics worry about the quality of the services. In our second and final story on the rise of tutoring, Elaine Korry reports.
  • Kids around the country are trying to make sense of the results of their SATs, which were changed this year. What once was a perfect score is no longer so.
  • Two worlds have come together in a rare teaching program at one of the nation's top universities. Students at Stanford University are reaching across a cultural divide to help tutor the Mexican immigrants who clean their classrooms and dorms.
  • One in four U.S. jobs now qualifies as low income, according to the Census Bureau. NPR's Elaine Korry reports on the efforts of Levi-Strauss and Co., to help workers cope with -- and avoid -- a crisis.
  • The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq surpasses 1,000, a figure that includes combat deaths and Americans killed by accidents and other causes. Most of the deaths occurred after President Bush declared an end to major combat operations last year. Hear NPR's Elaine Korry.
  • A federal judge rules that a sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart can become a class-action suit, encompassing 1.6 million current and former female employees. Wal-Mart said it would appeal the decision. The class-action status makes the suit the largest discrimination case ever brought against a private employer in the United States. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.
  • California's attorney general plans to file a civil suit against Enron, charging the bankrupt energy-trading firm with market manipulation during the Western power crisis that began in 2000. The suit will seek millions of dollars in damages and the return of profits arising from Enron's alleged market rigging. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.