The Backstory on Going Backwards Learn More About The Troubles in NOPS Before Katrina

Google Earth Tour of Locations in Going Backwards

John McDonogh: Shooting

• Cop Criticizes Dead Teen – Mary Foster, Associated Press: April 14, 2003.
• 1 Slain, 4 Hurt At N.O. School – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: April 15, 2003.
• One Killed and 3 Are Wounded at New Orleans School – Rick Bragg, New York Times: April 15, 2003.
• School shooting claims 1 life – Associated Press: April 15, 2003.
• Student Is Fatally Shot at New Orleans School – Lianne Hart, Los Angeles Times: April 15, 2003.
• Blood Feud – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: April 16, 2003.
• Metal detectors often ignored, some say – Aesha Rasheed, Times-Picayune: April 16, 2003.
• New Orleans Shooting Reveals Safety Gaps – Darcia Harris Bowman, Education Week: April 23, 2003.
• The Best Security – Gambit Weekly: April 23, 2003.
• Madness and Mayhem – Edmund W. Lewis, Louisiana Weekly: April 28, 2003.

John McDonogh: Academic Performance

• 2000-2001 School Accountability Report Card for Principals
• 2001-2002 School Accountability Report Card for Principals
• 2002-2003 School Accountability Report Card for Principals
• 2004-2005 School Report Card for Principals

New Orleans: Crime & Murder Rate

• New Orleans Struggles With a Homicide Rate That Belies Its Size – Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times: July 11, 2003.
• Cycle of Death: How New Orleans Became the Nation’s Murder Capital – Steve Ritea and Tara Young, Times-Picayune: February 8, 2004.
• Hot Zone – Tara Young, Times-Picayune: February 9, 2004.
• A Battle Without End – Michael Perlstein, Times-Picayune: February 11, 2004.
• Student’s Death Sparks Crescendo Of Revenge – Tara Young, Times-Picayune: February 11, 2004.

New Orleans Public Schools: Academic Problems

• Too Good To Be True: A Special Report – Times-Picayune: December 2001.
• Falling Short – Aesha Rasheed, Times-Picayune: August 10, 2003.
• Failing the Valedictorian – Times-Picayune, August 13, 2003.
• New Orleans Wages Battle Against Truancy – Kevin McGill, Associated Press: August 21, 2003.
• Tests expose flawed diplomas – USA Today, July 24, 2006.

New Orleans Public Schools: Mismanagement & Corruption

• Contract Buyout of New Orleans Chief Spurs Lawsuit – Beth Reinhard, Education Week: February 28, 1998.
• Looted: A Special Report – Times-Picayune: March 1998.
• Principal Accused of Extortion – Julie Blair, Philadelphia Inquirer: October 4, 2000.
• Amato to Run New Orleans Schools – Jeff Archer, Education Week: February 12, 2003.
• New Orleans schools probed for alleged misspending – Brett Martell, Associated Press: June 22, 2003.
• Feds open investigation of school payroll – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: June 26, 2003.
• School System Corruption Sparks Probe – Lianne Hart, Los Angeles Times: April 24, 2004.
• Earlier board reform movement sputtered out – Michael A. Mohammed, Times-Picayune: June 13, 2004.
• So You Want to Run for School Board? – Allen Johnson, Jr., Gambit Weekly: July 13, 2004.
• 45 New School Math Labs Approved – Aesha Rasheed, Times-Picayune: November 16, 2004.
• Federal Grand Jury Indicts Eleven in Orleans Parish Schools Corruption Investigation – OIG Investigative Reports, U.S. Department of Education: December 16, 2004.
• Final Audit Report for the Orleans Parish School Board – Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education: February 16, 2005.
• Besieged Amato Calls It Quits – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: April 13, 2005.
• Crises multiply at schools in New Orleans – Adam Nossiter, Associated Press: April 19, 2005.
• Orleans Parish School Board Comprehensive Annual Financial Report – Ora Watson, Orleans Parish School Board: June 30, 2005.
• Orleans Parish School Board Compliance Audit – Louisiana Legislative Auditor: August 24, 2005.
• Two sentenced to prison in New Orleans public schools bribery scheme – Susan Finch, Times-Picayune: October 29, 2008.
• Former school board President Brooks-Simms testifies she took bribes – Laura Maggi, Times-Picayune: August 12, 2009.
• Jefferson case shows meltdown of Orleans Parish School Board – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: August 23, 2009.
• School Board attributes bid rejection to contractor’s history of corruption – Cindy Chang, Times-Picayune: December 18, 2009.
• Convicted felon Burnell Moliere can no longer represent companies on state contractors licenses – Cindy Chang, Times-Picayune: February 18, 2010.
• Former Orleans Parish School Board President Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison – U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana: March 11, 2010.
• Witnesses at Renee Gill Pratt’s trial describe inner workings of Jefferson nonprofits – Times-Picayune: February 9, 2011.
• Mose Jefferson’s right-hand man says he did what he was told, no questions asked – Martha Carr, Times-Picayune: February 9, 2011.
• Longtime head of Jefferson family political machine sentenced to 30 months in bribery scheme – Bill Lodge and Gordon Russell, The Advocate: August 15, 2013.

New Orleans Public Schools: History

• The Battle of New Orleans – New York Times: November 15, 1960.
• Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board – United States District Court for the Eastern Division of Louisiana: November 30, 1960.
• The New Orleans School Crisis: A Report of the Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights – Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights: 1961.
• In the South These Children Prophesy – Robert Coles, The Atlantic: March 1963.
• Reflections on Education – Donald DeVore and Joseph Logsdon, Louisiana Cultural Vistas: Fall 1991.
• Woman who helped integrate US schools in 1960 meets with marshal who escorted her past crowds – Associated Press, September 5, 2013.

Wicker Elementary: Academic Performance

• 2001-2002 School Accountability Report Card for Principals
• 2002-2003 School Accountability Report Card for Principals
• 2003-2004 School Report Card for Principals

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of OPSB members Lloyd Rittiner and Emile Wagner in 1960