Sunday, October 9, 2011

Parents, activists debate school choice at education forum | NOLA.com

Parents, activists debate school choice at education forum | NOLA.com:

Parents, activists debate school choice at education forum

Published: Saturday, October 08, 2011, 6:00 PM

At an education event Saturday morning, parent Audrey Stewart lamented that her children have to catch the bus each morning at 6:30 a.m. near the families' 7th Ward house, but don't return home until after 5 p.m. -- a long workday for anyone, much less a school child. Stewart, who works as a teacher, sends her children to Samuel J. Green Charter School Uptown. She is disappointed that there aren't quality school programs throughout the city -- and not just in certain neighborhoods. "It really troubles me that so few of our kids have access to excellent public schools," she said.

abramson_backpacks_generic.jpgView full sizeAbramson Science and Technology Charter School was photographed Aug. 10.

Stewart and several others debated the tension between citywide school choice and access to neighborhood schools in one component of a