The New Orleans Post-Katrina School Reforms: 20 Years of Lessons
The report synthesizes findings from over a two-decade period of research. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the nation's most dramatic educational overhaul, where nearly all public schools were converted to charter schools.
The New Orleans Post-Katrina School Reforms: 20 Years of Lessons
Published
by Douglas Harris, Jamie Carroll
Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans on August 29, 2005 and was one of the most devastating disasters in American history. Even two decades later, its after-effects are felt here on a daily basis. “The storm”, as we call it, also shaped many of the city’s core institutions — none more so than our K‑12 schools. Almost all New Orleans public schools were taken over by the state and eventually turned into autonomous charter schools. All educators were fired, and the union contract was allowed to expire. Almost all attendance zones were eliminated so that families, in principle, could choose any publicly funded school in the city. By the end of the state takeover 13 years later, all of the city’s schools were converted to charter schools, and New Orleans schools were reunified into one district governed by the local school board and superintendent. While other cities in the U.S. have expanded their charter school offerings during state takeover periods, no city has gone as far as New Orleans. The key conclusion report is based not only on our individual findings, but also on patterns across our studies and analyses by other researchers.
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