Beth Fertig is Senior Education Editor at the XQ Institute, a non profit foundation dedicated to improving U.S. high schools. She was previously an award-winning veteran journalist at the New York City public radio station WNYC, and was a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. She covered many beats while at WNYC. These included local politics during Rudy Giuliani's administration, the 9/11 attacks, education, transportation and immigration. In 2005, NPR sent her on a monthlong assignment to KRVS cover the impact of Hurricane Katrina in Lafayette, LA, which received tens of thousands of evacuees from New Orleans. She is also the author of the education book "Why cant u teach me 2 read? Three Students and a Mayor Put Our Schools to the Test".