U.S. Education Department opens civil rights investigation of New Orleans public school closures
The U.S. Education Department has opened an investigation into charges that the Recovery School District's policy of closing and chartering New Orleans public schools violated the civil rights of African-American students. The complaint, filed in May, said African-American students were disproportionately affected by the Recovery system's decision to close its final five conventional public schools in New Orleans, and that the system did not provide good alternatives for displaced students.
The Education Department's Office of Civil Rights "has determined the allegations are appropriate for investigation," wrote Paul Coxe, regional civil rights supervisor, in a letter that the complainants shared with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Coxe emphasized that "opening the allegations for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits."
It could be months before the investigation ends, although the Education Department aims to "resolve complaints within 180 days of their receipt," a federal official said. Complex cases might take longer.
Louisiana Education Superintendent John White said that in the past six years, the federal Office of Civil Rights has resolved 42 of 76 complaints alleging racially discriminatory school closures but required systemic changes in only one case. Raymonde Charles of the U.S. Education Department confirmed the data.
Bradshaw said the federal department aims to "resolve complaints within 180 days of their receipt," though complex cases may take longer.
Among the May allegations were:
- The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and Recovery system have closed conventional public schools -- which are almost 100 percent African-American -- even when they are improving, but allowed their few whiter schools to remain open despite struggles with academics and management.
- New Orleans' best public schools have policies that tacitly exclude African-American students. For instance, Edward Hynes and Lusher give priority admission to families who live in their comparatively white neighborhoods.
- OneApp, the centralized enrollment system for Recovery system and Orleans Parish School Board schools, has become an instrument for exclusion because the best schools aren't on it.
Furthermore, the complaint asserts, it's no accident. "The racial disparity caused by RSD's policy of school closures, authorized by BESE and implemented by LDOE, provides circumstantial evidence of intentional discrimination," the complaint says.
Recovery Superintendent Patrick Dobard disagreed. "Our system of schools in New Orleans seeks to protect the basic civil rights of all students to receive a quality education," he said. "We are confident that the USDOE's OCR shares our commitment to ensuring all students in New Orleans have access to a high-quality school." He also said the percentage of New Orleans' African American youth in failing schools had plummeted since 2005.
A Board of Elementary and Secondary Education spokesman, Kevin Calbert, would not comment on the investigation.
In May, White dismissed the complaint as "a joke," saying it was part of a national, politically motivated push by labor unions to regain power in cities where they have lost ground or are fighting with education leadership. Similar complaints were filed the U.S. Education Department opens civil rights investigation of New Orleans public school closures | NOLA.com: