Laura Meckler, the award-winning national education reporter for The Washington Post, shares the top stories in her notebook for the coming academic year.

Hear why she's tracking cellphone bans, her advice for covering contentious school board elections, and how to put the so-called "culture wars" into context for your audiences.

She and EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond also discuss why K-12 reporters should be paying attention to civics classes and youth voters, and why expanding – and costly – school voucher programs should be on your radar this fall.