New Orleans becomes first major American city without traditional schools
On a typically hot July 1 in south Louisiana, when many students and educators are enjoying long holiday vacations, New Orleans has quietly become the first major American city without any traditional schools.
The Orleans Parish school district has teetered on the edge of an all-charter district for years. Each year the number of the district’s direct-run schools has dwindled as some have closed and others have converted or been taken over by charter organizations. During the 2018-2019 school year, the district ran just three schools directly, and that was only after unexpectedly taking control of two struggling charter schools.
The last school to convert, McDonogh 35 Senior High School, is doing so as part of a two-part plan to shut down the traditional school and restart it as a charter. The historic school needed a reset after years of declining scores, Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said last year when he announced the changes.
“My goal is to bring McDonogh 35 back into its premiere position as an academically successful, first-tier high school and this is the best step forward,” Lewis said in December.
Each of the last three years, the district has been poised to become all-charter, but each time, charter groups have withdrawn applications to run schools, or district officials have decided to change course. The district wound up waiting an extra year to hand McDonogh 35 over to a nonprofit.
That group, InspireNOLA, has grown with a wave of charter operators that followed the state’s post-Katrina intervention in New Orleans’ public schools.
Charter schools in New Orleans are run by nonprofit groups that receive a contract from either the state or the district. In exchange for the ability to select curriculum, staff and set their own calendars, they must meet certain academic and financial standards each year. Charter schools receive a 5-year contract and if they pass an initial review after three years they are able to apply for a renewal. Renewal contracts can last anywhere between three and 10-years depending on the school’s performance.
The state-run Recovery School District took over dozens of the city’s schools in the wake of CONTINUE READING: New Orleans becomes first major American city without traditional schools | The Lens
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