When the Democratic candidate for Governor, John Bel Edwards, met with the Editorial Board of Lafayette’s Daily Advertiser on Tuesday to explain how “things would be different in an Edwards administration,” the two-term State Representative had a lot to say about the state of public education in Louisiana. Some of the points he made were […] More
Well, Andrea Gabor is at it again. A few years ago, Andrea Gabor wrote an article for Newsweek that maligned the transformation of New Orleans’ public schools since Hurricane Katrina. At the time, I wrote a response that exposed the “inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and glaring omissions of fact” in her Newsweek piece – issues that made […] More
In case you missed it, on Monday Salon published a lopsided piece (In Salon? No kidding.) by Jennifer “Edushyster” Berkshire on New Orleans’ school reforms that painted a very misleading portrait of things on the ground in the Big Easy. I thought I would add much needed clarifications and context to the piece (which I’ve […] More
With the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, the nation’s attention is once again turning to New Orleans, seeking lessons from city’s rebuilding efforts, and in particular, from the revolutionary transformation of its public school system. After a decade of increasing academic performance, including significant jumps in both high school graduation and college acceptance rates, […] More
On Wednesday, the Recovery School District (RSD) released data showing that expulsions fell 14% across the city’s schools between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. In total, 199 students were expelled last year out of 45,803 enrolled in New Orleans schools; in S.Y. 2013-14, 231 students out of 44,306 were expelled. In 2012, the RSD […] More
A couple weeks ago, I had the honor of sitting down with blogger, activist, and New Orleans native Chris Stewart (a.k.a., Citizen Stewart) in an interview for his podcast, Rock The Schools. Over the course of our conversation, we reflected on the progress New Orleans has made in public education since Hurricane Katrina and the challenges we encountered along […] More
The question of whether eligible Recovery School District (RSD) charters should be returned to the control of the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) has gotten a lot of attention in recent weeks, thanks to House Bill 166, a proposal from Rep. Joseph Bouie, which would have forced eligible RSD charters to return to OPSB within […] More
On Tuesday, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) released a scathing report detailing the findings from an investigation into Lagniappe Academies by LDOE and Recovery School District (RSD) officials. The accusations in the report [see full report below] include: Failing to provide legally-mandated services to special education students, then doctoring forms to make it appear […] More
I’ll tell you, it’s pretty depressing being a Louisiana Democrat these days. It’s hard to believe that when I moved to this state just 13 years ago, Democrats occupied six statewide offices, including Governor, as well as both U.S. Senate seats. Since that time, the GOP has proceeded to systematically demolish the Democrats’ once-dominate position […] More
St. Tammany Parish teacher, blogger, and inveterate pessimist Mercedes Schneider desperately wants to believe New Orleans’ Recovery School District – and by extension, its students – have failed. For years, she has taken to her blog to malign the district at every available opportunity, dismissing evidence of the RSD’s progress as either smoke-and-mirrors or outright […] More
In the past few years, Georgia State University professor Kristen Buras1 has tried to make a name for herself by bashing the progress made in New Orleans’ public school system since Hurricane Katrina. She recently reached a new low with an article she wrote for The Progressive entitled, “Charter Schools Flood New Orleans.” For those […] More
Peter Cook