A former New York City public school teacher, she has freelanced for a variety of publications including The New York Times, Newsday, The Village Voice, Columbia Journalism Review and New Jersey Monthly, focusing on education and the arts. Ms. Siegel graduated from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and was a reporter at The Record in New Jersey and managing editor of Electronic Learning, an education and technology magazine. She has taught journalism at Baruch College, the State University of New York at New Paltz and the College of Staten Island.