New Orleans Public Schools

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Seal of the Orleans Parish School Board

New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) is a public school system that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12, and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, which directly administers 33 schools and has granted charters to another 37.[1] Though the Orleans Parish School Board has retained ownership of all the assets of the New Orleans Public Schools system, including all school buildings, the majority of students attending public schools in New Orleans now attend independent public charter schools - making New Orleans the only city in the nation where more than half of all public school children attend charter schools.[2][3] The headquarters of the OPSB is in the West Bank neighborhood of Algiers, while the RSD's headquarters is on Poland Avenue in the Ninth Ward.[4]

Contents

Reorganization of school system following Hurricane Katrina [edit]

NOPS was the New Orleans area's largest school district before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005, damaging or destroying more than 100 of the district's 128 school buildings. NOPS served approximately 65,000 students pre-Katrina. For decades prior to Hurricane Katrina's landfall, the New Orleans public school system was widely recognized as the lowest performing school district in Louisiana. According to researchers Carl L. Bankston and Stephen J. Caldas, only 12 of the 103 public schools then in operation within the city limits of New Orleans showed reasonably good performance at the beginning of the 21st century.[5]

In Katrina's immediate aftermath, an overwhelmed Orleans Parish School Board asserted that the school system would remain closed indefinitely. The Louisiana Legislature took advantage of this abdication of local leadership and acted swiftly. As a result of legislation passed by the state in November 2005, 102 of the city's worst-performing public schools were transferred to the Recovery School District (RSD), which is operated by the Louisiana Department of Education and was headed for a key period (2008-2011) by noted education leader Paul Vallas. The Recovery School District had been created in 2003 to allow the state to take over failing schools, those that fell into a certain "worst-performing" metric. Five public schools in New Orleans were transferred to RSD control prior to Katrina.[6] The current RSD superintendent is Patrick Dobard, while the OPSB is being led on an interim basis by Stan Smith.

The NOPS system is currently digesting reforms aimed at decentralizing power away from the pre-Katrina school board central bureaucracy to individual school principals and charter school boards, and at vesting choice in parents of public school students, allowing them to enroll their children in almost any school in the district. Charter school accountability is realized by the granting of renewable, five-year operating contracts permitting the closure of those not succeeding.[7] In October 2009, the release of annual school performance scores demonstrated continued growth in the academic performance of New Orleans' public schools. If the scores of all public schools in New Orleans (OPSB-chartered, RSD-chartered, RSD-operated, etc.) are considered, a district performance score of 70.6 results. This score represents a 6% increase over an equivalent 2008 metric, and a 24% improvement when measured against an equivalent pre-Katrina (2004) metric, when a district score of 56.9 was posted.[8] Notably a score of 70.6 approaches the score (78.4) posted in 2009 by the adjacent, suburban Jefferson Parish public school system, though that system's performance score is itself below the state average of 91.[9]

Criticism of Re-organization [edit]

The conversion of the majority of New Orleans' public schools to independently administered public charter schools following Hurricane Katrina has been cited by author Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine as an application of shock doctrine, and of the tactic of taking advantage of public disorientation following a disaster to effect radical change in public policy.[10]

Surveys of Public Opinion [edit]

The reforms imposed upon NOPS in the wake of Katrina proved to be extremely popular with the public, despite the policy's criticism from observers such as Klein. A recent survey conducted by Tulane University's Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives indicated that the state's takeover of NOPS and the subsequent spread of independent public charters are viewed with overwhelming approval, by both parents of students and by citizens in general.[11] Specifically, a poll of 347 randomly selected Orleans Parish voters and 300 randomly selected parents of children in the NOPS system indicated that 85% of parents surveyed reported they were able to enroll their children at the school they preferred, and 84% said the enrollment process was easy - findings that surprised the researchers. Furthermore, 82% of parents with children enrolled at public charter schools gave their children's schools an "A" or "B", though only 48% of parents of children enrolled in non-chartered public schools assigned A's or B's to the schools their children attended. According to the survey, clear majorities of parents and voters overall do not want the Orleans Parish School Board to regain administrative control of NOPS.[12] However, the Times-Picayune's story failed to inform readers that the Cowen Institute is itself an advocate of charter schools, and is listed as a "Key Partner" of New Schools for New Orleans, a charter school advocacy group. Because of this conflict of interest and because of allegations of bias in the wording of the Cowen Institute's questions, its survey may possess questionable validity.

Curriculum [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (March 2013)

In the mid-1800s the German American community of New Orleans attempted to have the German language supplant French as a subject in school.[13] The German Society made efforts to have German introduced into the school system.[14] In 1910 the German language was added to the NOPS curriculum, making it a regular subject in high schools and, at the elementary school, an afternoon elective. At the time, 10% of high school students selected German.[13] In 1918, due to World War I propaganda German was discontinued. German was re-introduced in 1931. The Deutsches Haus, the successor to the German society, made efforts to reintroduce German. German was discontinued in 1938 as World War II began.[14]

Schools [edit]

Fifty three public schools opened in New Orleans for the 2006-2007 school year. This number included schools run by the OPSB or the RSD, or schools chartered by the OPSB or the RSD. By November 2006, the district was approaching half of its pre-Katrina enrollment, with 36% of the students enrolled in independent charter schools, 18% in the Algiers Charter School Association charter network, 35% in the state-run RSD, and 11% in the few remaining district-run schools. The majority of students in the NOPS system attended independently administered public charter schools, a condition that has persisted to the present and is cited with approval by national advocates of charter schools.

For the 2009-2010 school year, the Orleans Parish School Board directly administers 4 schools and oversees the 12 it has chartered. The RSD operates 33 schools and has chartered 37.[1] Additionally, two schools were chartered directly by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).[2]

As of fall 2009, the following NOPS schools are open:[15][16][17][18]

OPSB-chartered schools [edit]

Benjamin Franklin High School

OPSB-operated schools [edit]

RSD-operated schools [edit]

RSD-chartered schools [edit]

BESE-chartered schools [edit]

Algiers Charter Schools Association [edit]

The Algiers Charter Schools Association is a system of eight charter schools that including schools affiliated with NOPS and the RSD.

  • Eisenhower Elementary
  • Fischer Elementary
  • Harte Elementary
  • Edna Karr High School
  • Martin Behrman Charter Academy for Creative Arts and Sciences (Grades PreK-8)
  • McDonogh 32
  • O. Perry Walker High School
  • Tubman High School
  • Algiers Technology Academy

Schools that are not open--

  • Abrams School
  • Agnes Bauduit Elementary (now Arthur Ashe Charter Elementary)
  • Alexander Elementary (McDonogh #39)
  • Allen Elementary (now New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School)
  • Alternative High
  • Armstrong School (McDonogh #19)
  • Augustine Middle (S. J. Peters)
  • Bell Jr. High
  • Bienville School
  • Bradley School
  • Charles Colton Middle School
  • Chester School
  • Crossman Elementary (now Esperanza Charter School)
  • Frederick A. Douglass High School (now KIPP: Renaissance)
  • Alcee Fortier High School
  • Haley School (Gayarre)
  • Hoffman School
  • Jackson School (now the International School of Louisiana)
  • Julius Rosenwald Accelerated Elementary (now Algiers Technology Academy)
  • Jean Gordon Elementary
  • Jones Elementary
  • Jordan School (McDonogh #40)
  • John F. Kennedy High
  • Lafon School
  • Lake Area Middle (Schaumburg Elementary)
  • Lawless High
  • Little Woods School
  • Livingston Middle (now housing multiple charters)
  • Lockett School
  • McDonogh 7 (housing Andrew Wilson charter through early 2010)
  • Mondy Elementary
  • Mondy School (William O. Rogers)
  • Morial Elementary
  • Morris F.X. Jeff Elementary (McDonogh #31)
  • New Orleans East Educational Center
  • NOPS Technology Center
  • Osborne Elementary
  • Parkview Fundamental Magnet (Claiborne)
  • Phillips Jr. High
  • Shaw School
  • Sherwood Forest School
  • Terrell Magnet
  • Urban League Street Academy
  • Village De L'est Elementary School (now Einstein Charter School)
  • Booker T. Washington High School (Scheduled to become a vocational trade school pre-Katrina)
  • Water Elementary
  • Wheatley Elementary School
  • Williams, Sylvanie School
  • Woodson Middle

Former schools [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (August 2012)

RSD chartered:

Pre-Katrina:

  • German High School
    • In the early 1850s the German American community of New Orleans made plans to establish the school in the Third District of New Orleans. It was nonsectarian and had no religious instruction. The school closed during a Yellow Fever epidemic in 1853.[13]

References [edit]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ a b Carr, Sarah. "Cowen report endorses school reforms. The Times-Picayune. Tuesday March 9, 2010. Retrieved on March 31, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Recovery School District Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.rsdla.net/Resources/FAQs.aspx
  3. ^ RSD looks at making charters pay rent, The Times-Picayune, December 18, 2009.
  4. ^ "Central Office Staff." New Orleans Public Schools. Retrieved on December 15, 2009.
  5. ^ Bankston III, Carl L. (2002). "A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana". Vanderbilt University. 
  6. ^ "RSD Frequently Asked Questions". 
  7. ^ Vallas wants no return to old ways, The Times-Picayune, July 25, 2009.
  8. ^ Orleans Parish school performance scores continue to improve, The Times-Picayune, October 14, 2009.
  9. ^ Jefferson Parish schools make progress, but still have long way to go: an editorial, The Times-Picayune, October 15, 2009.
  10. ^ Naomi Klein, 2007. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. ISBN 0-8050-7983-1
  11. ^ Changes in N.O. schools cheered, The Times-Picayune, December 16, 2009.
  12. ^ Ibid.
  13. ^ a b c Merrill, p. 235.
  14. ^ a b Merrill, p. 236.
  15. ^ Recovery School District Our Schools http://www.rsdla.net/InfoGlance/Schools.aspx
  16. ^ New Orleans Public Schools - Orleans Parish School Board-About Us - Our Schools http://www.nops.k12.la.us/pages/our_schools
  17. ^ Algiers Charter School Association - Schools http://www.algierscharterschools.org/
  18. ^ Capital One - University of New Orleans Charter School Network - Schools in the UNO Charter Network http://www.unocharternetwork.net/schools

External links [edit]

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