Charter schools nearly destroyed this New Orleans school. Now it will become one.
The first black high school in New Orleans, McDonogh 35, was a source of pride, until the chartering of the city’s schools after Hurricane Katrina contributed to its academic collapse. Now, the school board hopes turning it over to a charter organization can save it
NEW ORLEANS — The McDonogh 35 “Roneagles” were killing their opponents on the softball field. Junior Tye Mansion had just stolen a base, and her teammates in the dugout were going wild, chanting and taunting the other team. Tye’s mom Tyra Mansion was cheering her on behind home plate.
“That’s my superstar. That’s Hollywood,” she said.
Off the field, life was less glamorous for Tye this spring. She had taken and retaken the ACT, trying to get a score high enough to get into college, with a scholarship. Her mom said Tye’s school, McDonogh 35 Senior High School, wasn’t giving her the academic support she needed to improve her score, so Mansion had to go elsewhere for help — taking Tye to programs at the local university, and paying for private tutoring.
“We may have to go five different places to get it, but we get it,” Mansion said.
McDonogh 35’s average ACT score was a 16.1 last year. That’s well below the national average, of 20.8 and not nearly high enough to get into most colleges. It’s a stark contrast to when, 15 years ago, McDonogh 35 students posted some of the highest test scores in the district. The century-old high school — the city’s first public school for black students — boasted alumni who went on to become mayors and judges.
Then Hurricane Katrina hit. McDonogh 35 was one of the few schools that weathered the storm mostly intact. It was the onslaught of charter schools that followed that contributed to the school’s near collapse in academics.
As school after school became chartered in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, McDonogh 35 High School remained under district control. Money and attention turned to the new, privately run schools. Teachers, resources and programs for McDonogh 35 disappeared. The school, once a selective magnet, became a last-resort school for some of the city’s most vulnerable students. Alumni of the historic black high school accused the school district of CONTINUE READING: Charter schools nearly destroyed McDonogh 35. Now it will become one
