Tim Simmons, a reporter on The (Raleigh) News & Observer business desk who covered the business of academia, has left the paper to become a vice president of communications for a local education initiative, the Wake Education Partnership.
Simmons, 50, spent most of his career at The N&O covering the state’s public schools. He also wrote about issues involving early childhood development, community colleges and local universities.
Other stories during his career at The N&O addressed rapid growth in Wake County’s schools, campus coverage of N.C. State University and business issues involving higher education.
Simmons covered local government at The Cincinnati Post before joining The N&O in 1987. He also worked for newspapers in Covington, Ky., and Battle Creek, Mich., after graduating with a degree in journalism from Michigan State University in 1981.
The N&O business desk is now down to seven reporters and two editors. It had been at 10 reporters and three editors at the beginning of the year.
