Larry Abramson
Larry Abramson is NPR's National Security Correspondent. He covers the Pentagon, as well as issues relating to the thousands of vets returning home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Prior to his current role, Abramson was NPR's Education Correspondent covering a wide variety of issues related to education, from federal policy to testing to instructional techniques in the classroom. His reporting focused on the impact of for-profit colleges and universities, and on the role of technology in the classroom. He made a number of trips to New Orleans to chart the progress of school reform there since Hurricane Katrina. Abramson also covers a variety of news stories beyond the education beat.
In 2006, Abramson returned to the education beat after spending nine years covering national security and technology issues for NPR. Since 9/11, Abramson has covered telecommunications regulation, computer privacy, legal issues in cyberspace, and legal issues related to the war on terrorism.
During the late 1990s, Abramson was involved in several special projects related to education. He followed the efforts of a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, to include severely disabled students in regular classroom settings. He joined the National Desk reporting staff in 1997.
For seven years prior to his position as a reporter on the National Desk, Abramson was senior editor for NPR's National Desk. His department was responsible for approximately 25 staff reporters across the United States, five editors in Washington, and news bureaus in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. The National Desk also coordinated domestic news coverage with news departments at many of NPR's member stations. The desk doubled in size during Abramson's tenure. He oversaw the development of specialized beats in general business, high-technology, workplace issues, small business, education, and criminal justice.
Abramson joined NPR in 1985 as a production assistant with Morning Edition. He moved to the National Desk, where he served for two years as Western editor. From there, he became the deputy science editor with NPR's Science Unit, where he helped win a duPont-Columbia Award as editor of a special series on Black Americans and AIDS.
Prior to his work at NPR, Abramson was a freelance reporter in San Francisco and worked with Voice of America in California and in Washington, D.C.
He has a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Abramson also studied overseas at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and at the Free University in Berlin, Germany.
-
Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis deepened in its largest city Wednesday, as health authorities warned that radiation levels in some tap water there exceed safety levels for infants. Parents are being warned not to use tap water to prepare baby formula. -
In Guayaquil, Ecuador, rapid urbanization has led to a growing number of street kids — a dilemma that the Salesians have taken on as their own. The Catholic order gets the kids and teenagers off the streets, teaches them useful skills and, in some cases, reconnects them with their families. -
The State Department has authorized the distribution of potassium iodide to U.S. government staff in Japan, "out of an abundance of caution." But it's a precautionary step, and nobody should take the pills unless told to do so by U.S. officials.
-
Americans are streaming into culinary schools to pursue their passion for cooking. And with many people paying for their education with federal loans, those schools are under pressure to prove that students graduate with more than just a ton of debt. -
The top fundraiser for NPR has resigned after a videotape became public showing him openly disparaging conservative groups during what he thought was a fundraising meeting. The video was recorded secretly during a lunch Ron Schiller had with two people who claimed to be eager to contribute to public radio.
-
Education reformers have argued for some time that relying on seniority alone to determine layoffs gets rid of young, promising teachers and causes mayhem in low-income schools. Unions, however, say ending "last in, first out" rules will only aggravate the already huge problem of teacher turnover. -
Demonstrators are keeping up their nearly weeklong protests in Madison, Wis., amid anger about a plan by Republican Gov. Scott Walker to take away collective bargaining rights for many public employees. Legislators have abandoned the Capitol, and so has the governor, turning the building into something of a giant performance space. -
Some colleges and universities see half of their freshmen classes drop out. In an effort to help stem the tide, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing $2 million in a private company that creates student-only online college communities where students can get support from their peers. -
School budgets are shrinking and educators are looking for ways to effectively cut corners. Some schools are reducing costs by implementing computer-based instruction, creating teacher evaluation systems and increasing class sizes.
-
There have been reports that gun sales have increased since the Tucson shootings. In fact, there is no reliable information showing that gun sales have gone up. But there is growing interest among gun enthusiasts in the high-capacity clip used in the shooting. Buyers worry that these clips will be outlawed, if gun control advocates have their way.
