The New Orleans Charter Fiasco Train: Add Another Car
If you want to read about one charter fiasco after another, look no farther than New Orleans.
In December 2018, I wrote a post about the issues facing the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and its superintendent, Henderson Lewis. As of May 2016, the New Orleans Recovery School District (RSD) began the process of being dissolved, with RSD charters being transferred to the jurisdiction of OPSB. (All-charter OPSB has since been renamed “NOLA Public Schools.”)
Lewis and OPSB/NOLA Public Schools are increasingly finding themselves in the position of chaos clean-up. From my December 2018 post, including my quoting from the Lens:
It seems that Orleans Parish Schools superintendent Henderson Lewis has his hands full in dealing with New Orleans charter schools that find themselves in fiscal trouble.As the November 13, 2018, New Orleans Lens reports, Lewis has decided to close three charter schools “in the past six months,” and he threatened to close two others “last year”:Orleans Parish schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. will seek to revoke Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy’s charter mid-year after financial mismanagement and leadership instability, he told Orleans Parish School Board committee members at a Tuesday meeting. …Last year, the district began the charter revocation process at two Einstein Charter Schools after the Einstein charter network refused to provide bus service to elementary students. … Einstein ultimately moved to hire a bus company. …Lewis announced his intention to close Cypress Academy this week. The school had been taken over by the district in May after its former charter board made the surprise decision to close due to financial problems. And last month, Crescent Leadership Academy, the city’s only alternative program that served middle school students, abruptly closed.The Lens article continues with Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) member Ben Kleban’s concern about OPSB ability to respond to CONTINUE READING:The New Orleans Charter Fiasco Train: Add Another Car | deutsch29
