Thursday, August 14, 2014

Obituary for New Orleans/Recovery School District

                The New Orleans/Recovery School District expired at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.  As a state operated school district, the state decided to dismantle the district and convert the remaining schools into charter schools.  Unfortunately, the decision to dismantle the district was not put to a local vote so the citizens of New Orleans who pay taxes and utilize the public schools could decide the fate of their district.
                The decision to convert the entire district into a system of independent charter schools appears to be based on the misguided ideology by the state that an all charter school district will provide choice, innovation and competition.  However, the misguided ideology seems to ignore that charter schools were not performing any better that district.  According Ravtich (2013):
                                                “The state gave a grade of D or F to two-thirds
                                                of the charter schools in New Orleans.  Only 9%
                                                earned an A and 14% earned a B.  There are vast
                                                disparities among charters: some are high performing,
                                                but most are low performing…it could hardly be a model
                                                for the nation[i].

                The decision by the state also seemed to ignore that charter schools being independent will have different set of rules on enrollment, instruction and discipline that could be confusing to parents and student.  The lack of uniformity concerning enrollment criteria, the type of instruction students receive (if it is inclusive of students with disabilities, struggling learners and English Language learners)and student discipline will be different with each charter school.  The lack of uniformity has the potential to disregard the rights of student and parents.

                Finally, the decision by the state seemed to ignore the racial disparity and segregation of students who are enrolled in charter schools.  According to the Washington Post:

                                                White students disproportionately attend the best
                                                charter schools, while the worst are almost exclusively
                                                populated by African American students[ii].

The racial disparity is so bad that a federal civil rights complaint was filed against a particular charter school operator that runs the city’s best charter school which does not participate in the city’s One App school enrollment lottery. 

                Thank you to the teachers, administrators and non-instructional staff of the New Orleans/Recovery School District for the hard work you have done on behalf of children who were given very little chance to succeed by leaders who have a misguided ideology that does not have the best interest of children.




[i] Ratvich, Diane (2013).  Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to American Public Schools, Knopf/New York
[ii] www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-new-orleans-traditional-public-schools-close-for-good