LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF EBONY MAGAZINE
(Photo from: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/08/15/new-orleans-washing-machine-style-education-reform)
The recent article “What Happened to All Schools in New Orleans?”written by R.L. Hill presents a false and incomplete picture of the K-12 schools in New Orleans, La. To quote: “And despite nationwide concerns over what seems to be an educational realignment with charter school principles, current signs indicate it’s working in the Big Easy.” The article cites the only criticisms of and concerns for the Recovery School District of New Orleans (RSDNO) are the mass firings and the decision making process that failed to include the community of stake-holders who reside in New Orleans. This could not be further from the truth. The RSD is riddled with problems inclusive of poor academic performance, inadequate funding, poor teacher quality, test -driven curriculum at the expense of quality pedagogy, and a racist and militaristic approach to discipline for the majority of the non-White populace that attends RSDNO schools.
The article claims that the schools are doing better than prior to Hurricane Katrina because high school graduation rates and standardized test performances are better. According to the a recent report by Charles Hatfield, M.S. and Barbara Ferguson, Ed.D , “…the ninth grade cohorts show a consistent gap between the RSDNO and the Orleans Parrish School Board (OPSB) regarding the success of the state takeover. Yet this gap is often omitted because other researchers combine the achievement and graduation results of both RSDNO and OPSB. The failure of those RSDNO’s 9th grade enrolled cohorts to graduate within 4 years reflects adversely on the ability of a school district to address the educational needs of all of its students. It suggests the non-existence of vital support mechanisms needed to address the myriad of educational, psychological and social needs of all students enrolled in the 9th grade.” The report goes on to say: “Unfortunately, the LDOE refused to provide ROR with these enrollment files that would have been necessary to complete the four year analyses of each of the missing cohorts, i.e., 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-2015; thereby, limiting the scope of this study and depriving the public and researchers of vital raw data by which to objectively assess the effectiveness of the state’s takeover. This is a blatant example of the LDOE’s lack of transparency with respect to accountability.”
Sadly, any success that can be claimed is the result of misleading manipulations such as the change in the school grading formula from 2012 to 2013, which “raised” the RSD district score from a D to a C., or as LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF EBONY MAGAZINE - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:
