New Orleans
New Orleans
When Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke in 2005, most schools in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed. The State of Louisiana empowered a special Recovery School District (RSD) to take over 114 schools; only 20 relatively high-performing schools remained under the control of the local Orleans Parish School Board.
The RSD instituted a performance-based approach and implemented the widespread use of charter schools. Before 2005, New Orleans had only a handful of charter schools; in 2010, 62 charter schools served 61% of the students in New Orleans.
Although New Orleans schools remain among the lowest-performing in Louisiana, between 2007 and 2012, the percentage of students performing at grade level on Louisiana state assessments in RSD schools in New Orleans increased from 23% to 57%.
The challenge of long-term governance of New Orleans schools remains to be answered; the RSD, originally intended as a temporary solution, remains in control.
LEARN MORE
A report by Tulane University’s Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives details “The State of Public Education in New Orleans: 2013 Report.”
A New York Times editorial shares “Lessons from New Orleans.”
A Washington Post editorial describes “The Big Easy’s School Revolution.”
Research by Tulane University’s Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives details “The Transformation of a School System: Principal, Teacher, and Parent Perceptions of Charter and Traditional Schools in Post-Katrina New Orleans.”
