Charter Schools Rise in New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina

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I, for one, think that choice is a good thing. While choice in this case is a direct result of Katrina, it has resulted in some wonderful consequences for the students in New Orleans.
Tom N
http://BestOnlineHighSchools.com

Tom N of CA 3:10AM February 14, 2010

I think that part of the success of Charter schools is the smaller class size. I am a substitute teacher and have been in both public and charter schools, and without a doubt, being in a charter school classroom with twenty kids is easier to manage than a public school classroom that has forty kids. Now I have been in some Charter schools where all that mattered to them at the moment was getting more kids enrolled, and other aspects of the school suffered. However, I personally attended public schools where all the students were failing in a classroom and an intervention was never made. Both have their pros and cons, but it the Charter is improving student's overall success, then I will support those types of schools.

Erika of CA 1:24PM January 05, 2010

I'd like to highlight one thing about the recruiting that goes on for charter schools in New Orleans.
Administrators, teachers, board members, and volunteers alike are recruiting students because they strongly believe in their school's mission and values. With that conviction, explaining the benefits of a school is not a "sales pitch" and the logo on the back of the t-shirt is not "voodoo;" Talking to a family at WalMart is just another opportunity to share.
While the "business" side of charters is mentioned in the article, it should also be noted that by not being part of a mammoth district, students in charters get a wide variety of options and opportunities at school. How amazing is it that these new charter schools all have clear missions and objectives? It seems almost inappropriate that we have just accepted regular public schools with no clear mission-
It should be acknowledged that there is a clear difference between a regular public school and a college-preparatory environment. New Schools for New Orleans is opening schools whose mission is to get kids to college- plain and simple.
If you ask any student at a well-run charter school in New Orleans where they're going after they finish school they'll say, "COLLEGE!" That is closing the achievement gap. The preparation that charters in New Orleans are doing is laying the groundwork to close the achievement gap.

Amy of LA 11:39AM January 01, 2010

Hey, thank you for not saying Katrina flooded New Orleans!
It was the levees that failed at Half Load because they were built wrong by the US Army Corps of Engineers and Not Katrina. US News and World Report stands up to its long history of accuracy in reporting.
We must get this straight since over half the nation lives in counties protected by levees.
Thank you
Editilla~New Orleans Ladder

Editilla~New Orleans Ladder of LA 7:35PM December 23, 2009

Thank you for describing the flooding in New Orleans as due to levee failure and not simply to Katrina.
"...When the levees broke in August 2005...."
Indeed, saying Katrina flooded New Orleans would be like saying traffic broke the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis.
Both Katrina and the traffic exposed structural flaws. Both revealed blatant civil engineering mistakes
And in New Orleans those mistakes were made by our Army Corps of Engineers.
Sandy Rosenthal, wife, mother, New Orleans resident and founder of Levees.org

Sandy Rosenthal of LA 7:17PM December 23, 2009