OneApp audit says most N.O. public school students attend class outside their neighborhoods | NOLA.com

OneApp audit says most N.O. public school students attend class outside their neighborhoods | NOLA.com

OneApp audit says most N.O. public school students attend class outside their neighborhoods

A New Orleans public school enrollment system analysis says most students get admitted into their top choices. However, the system has experienced a drop in applicants getting their top choices in recent years as more high-performing schools begin to join the centralized process.

Eighty-four public schools in New Orleans use a computerized enrollment lottery system called OneApp to assign students to seats based on family preference and school priorities. Families can apply to up to 12 schools in OneApp for their child during a "main round" process. Parents unhappy with their choice from the main round get another chance to select their desired school during "round 2" of OneApp. 

State auditors reviewed first-round OneApp results in New Orleans from the 2014-15 school year to the 2018-19 academic year, according to a 31-page report released Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 14) by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's office. An early summary of the auditwas obtained by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune last week. The full audit provides more details and tweaks to some of the report's numbers.

The full performance audit, spurred by a request by State Rep. Joseph Bouie, D-New Orleans, now says 65.5 percent of the 10,749 applicants received one of their top three choices for the 2018-19 school year. The earlier version of the audit's summary said about 75 percent of students received one of their top choices.

N.O. parents slam school board for issues surrounding OneApp

The concerns spurred State Rep. Joseph Bouie to request a OneApp performance audit from the state Legislative Auditor in April.

The audit said 44.8 percent of students received their first choice. However, the percentage of students receiving their top choice in the first round decreased from 58 percent to 44.8 percent over the time period that was studied.

The percentage of students receiving one of their top three choices overall also dropped from 77.7 percent to 65.5 percent during that Continue reading: OneApp audit says most N.O. public school students attend class outside their neighborhoods | NOLA.com

Big Education Ape: How meaningful is school choice in New Orleans, the city of charters? - The Hechinger Report - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-meaningful-is-school-choice-in-new.html

Big Education Ape: Lack of quality schools will doom common enrollment in New Orleans: Andre Perry | NOLA.com - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/02/lack-of-quality-schools-will-doom.html

Big Education Ape: New Orleans “Parental Choice” and the Walton-funded OneApp | deutsch29 - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-orleans-parental-choice-and-walton.html

Big Education Ape: UPDATE: School choice sounds great in theory—but who does the choosing? | Hechinger Report - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-choice-sounds-great-in-theorybut.html

Crisis deepens in Puerto Rico as Junta seizes educational system – Workers World

Crisis deepens in Puerto Rico as Junta seizes educational system – Workers World

Crisis deepens in Puerto Rico as Junta seizes educational system

The crisis of the Puerto Rican nation continues spiraling downward and is about to hit bottom. The main news every day only increases people’s indignation. Each day proves without a doubt Puerto Rico’s character as a colony. Each event adds another nail in the coffin of the farcical “pact between Puerto Rico and the United States” that was the “Free Associated State of 1952,” a false autonomy for the archipelago.

During the second week of August, it was clearly exposed who really, directly governs in Puerto Rico: the Congress of the United States, through its imposed Fiscal Control Board (a dictatorial Junta). Those who voted in past Puerto Rican elections, thinking that they would elect their leaders, have seen that their vote was a fantasy exercise in vain. The reduced participation in the last elections indicated Puerto Ricans’ growing lack of confidence in their government.

Fiscal board’s power over Puerto Rico’s government

Judge Laura Taylor Swain, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, presides over the bankruptcy cases concerning Puerto Rico’s government. Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and not a municipality, bankruptcy cases cannot be heard by bankruptcy court judges, only by federal district court judges.

The last decision resolved two lawsuits filed by the Puerto Rican government, one from the Legislature and another from Gov. Ricardo Roselló. It referred to the FCB’s power over the insular government under the Puerto Rican Constitution. It must be remembered that this Constitution was authorized by Law 600 of 1952, which was approved by the U.S. Congress.

With a sentence, the judge dismisses any aspirations of local autonomy: “The power granted to the board by section 205 (b) (1) (K) of PROMESA allows the FCB to make binding policy choices for the commonwealth government, despite the governor’s objection of the recommendations under section 205.” ­(elnuevodia.com, Aug. 8)

Section 205 of the PROMESA law refers to public policy recommendations and is basically the implementation of the interests of the U.S. Congress: to control payrolls, reduce expenses (pensions, benefits, etc.) and privatize government agencies that are potential profit generators.

Although the judge establishes that the FCB cannot pass laws, she said that it has “budgetary” and “negotiation tools.” As the saying goes, “Whoever pays the piper calls the tune.” When the FCB imposes a fiscal plan that satisfies U.S. interests, it goes above and beyond any Puerto Rican law. For example: What difference does it make if the Puerto Rican government wants to preserve the Christmas bonus for public and private workers (an obligation under PR law) if the FCB’s fiscal plan does not include any source to pay for it?

It should be pointed out here that the Junta’s work has two central purposes: to balance the budget and return Puerto Rico to the credit market. Of course, central to this is paying the bondholders as much as possible at the expense of the people.

As a result of this decision, imposing the Junta’s fiscal plan will greatly exacerbate the people’s situation. Apart from reduction of the Christmas bonus — which is the annual stimulus that helps families and small businesses balance their budgets and stay afloat for the rest of the year — layoffs will increase; employment positions will decrease and retirement plans will be reduced, pushing the elderly population into poverty. Also, government services will be cut and worsened at the central level and in the municipalities where budgets will shrink even further.

Consequences for educational system

Classes start at the beginning of August in Puerto Rican schools. How will the dictatorship of the U.S. Congress through the seven Junta members impact the Puerto Rican educational system? Never before has a school year started in such a clumsy manner, with so much uncertainty for teachers, students and their families and with so much disorganization and incongruence, especially for students in elementary school and those who need special education.

It should be noted that even though Gov. “Ricky” Roselló filed a lawsuit against the Junta, his government is politically in synch with the Junta. Congress has used the Puerto Rican government as an “easy fool” to achieve Continue reading:  Crisis deepens in Puerto Rico as Junta seizes educational system – Workers World