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Platform on Education Reform
HOPE AFTER THE HURRICANE:
Key Messages about K-12 Public Education in New Orleans
- When Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans, it decimated what was one of the country’s worst-performing public school systems. Repaired levees, rebuilt homes, and thriving businesses are needed to revive New Orleans. But if the city is to survive beyond the short term, it requires a world-class system of education at all levels.
- A fundamentally different model of public education has emerged in the aftermath of the storm, one that bears little resemblance to the former New Orleans Public School system. Never has a failing urban public school system in the country experienced the near total destruction of resources and responded with such radical change. Public school reform efforts will take time, but notable progress has been made in a short time frame. The truly encouraging news is that the public schools in New Orleans are better than they were before Katrina, and they will continue to improve.
- A new innovative model, comprised of state-operated, local district-operated, and charter schools, is changing the paradigm for the delivery of public education in the United States.
- A new school-focused philosophy, one that empowers schools to be the centerpiece for transformation and holds them accountable for student performance, has emerged. School choices, increased flexibility for school leaders, and standardized accountability have emerged as drivers of student learning and achievement.
- One of the most positive developments is the creation of a coalition of non-profit organizations and higher education institutions that are currently supporting the city’s system of schools. The unique partnership between these organizations (which includes co-location of most of them) allows each organization to maximize its efforts and leverage real improvements towards student achievement and success. The following local and national non-profit organizations are playing a key role and are committed to coordination of efforts to drive transformative change and set a new standard for urban public school reform.
- Existing national organizations such as New Leaders for New Schools, Teach for America, and the New Teacher Project have entered the market (or expanded their presence) to assist with recruiting, training, and placing principals and teachers in schools.
- New, locally-based non-profit organizations have opened to address the needs of individual schools. Leading the effort, New Schools for New Orleans serves as a driver of school-based transformation in public schools in the city. NSNO actively recruiting and placing teachers and principals, opening and supporting new open-enrollment charter schools, and supporting charter schools by providing grants to promote school quality.
- Local higher education institutions are renewing their dedication to K-12 public education. For example, Tulane University created the Cowen Institute for Public Education, which is an action-oriented think-tank that actively addresses the issues impeding student achievement by designing and advancing innovative, high-impact policies and programs. It also serves as a clearinghouse for charter and traditional public schools in Orleans Parish to directly access the myriad of experts and resources available at Tulane.
- Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans is playing an advocacy role in the transformation of the city’s public education system.
- Citizens has established a significant presence among state legislators, school boards, charter school administrators, business leaders, and national and local non-profit organizations.
- During the 2007 legislative session, Citizens successfully advocated for efforts to continue the systemic reforms in the educational system in Orleans Parish. By collaborating with other organizations currently involved in education, Citizens was able to advance the legislative agenda that was best for our students. This was accomplished by understanding the landscape, articulating the collective issues, bringing solutions to the attention of legislators, galvanizing the community to push for action, and exerting political pressure.
- The organization has proven its ability to capitalize on its access to intellectual and political capital and is dedicated to supporting the best interests of the city’s youth in the future. In collaboration with its partners, Citizens is currently identifying its advocacy strategies for continued support of education reform in New Orleans.
- It is often said that with Hurricane Katrina came the opportunity to give the New Orleans public education system a fresh start, and more importantly, an opportunity to reinvent urban public education for the nation to follow. From being ranked one of the worst school districts in the country, New Orleans could now be transformed to serve as a model for unprecedented innovation in public education.
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