NOLA Schools as A Bold Experiment? by Michelle Weinel

Day 4, NOLA

The statement of "New Orleans is emerging as a bold experiment in what a city school system can be" alludes to the idea that this "experimentation" is greatly benefiting the school system of New Orleans. Almost as if what has evolved from Katrina, education wise, has now become the pinnacle of "successful school transformation" and reform. True, from what we as a class have gathered from tours, panels and general discussions, the plan for rebuilding New Orleans education sounds like a smooth transition and flawless blueprint. But only on paper.

Like the article by the Boston Globe suggests, the system has indeed started from scratch. As for the imple- menting of "promising models of reform from around the country", that has also only happened successfully in theory. What we as a class have witnessed as the product of post Katrina education rebuilding is complicated. This "experiment" has so many groups and individuals pulling strings and attempting to achieve different outcomes. The communication between groups, stakeholders really, is little to none. So what one ends up with is a messy system, full of passionate principals working at schools with breathtaking facilities, to overcrowded elementary programs with a serious lack of assistant staff, and everything in between.

What I don't think the Boston Globe under- stands, and lets face it, many people in the country (myself before this class included) is yes, the New Orleans school system is starting from scratch. And yes, starting from scratch allows for new beginnings, new promising programs that on paper sound like a saving grace. But with so many stakeholders (teachers, teachers unions, parents, "communities", corporations, volunteer groups, STUDENTS) involved within this one education system (charter schools, public schools, private schools, etc) compounded with competitive attitudes, ("us against you") has turned NOLA schools into a complicated, hard to navigate system particularly for those who are supposed to be benefiting from it the most; New Orleans students & and parents.

Maybe many, many, many years down the line, what the Globe alludes to as "re- defining education" post Katrina will ring more true, at least to me, but after the week we have spent here and the people we have talked to, the system is a far cry from being the pinnacle of education reform, success.

Was Katrina Really The Best Thing for NOLA Schools? by Paige Chandler

Day 4, NOLA

"What has happened since the disaster, however, is redefining urban public education. Instead of simply rebuilding the old district, based on the old institutions, policy leaders in New Orleans and Baton Rouge decided to start from scratch, fashioning a public education system based on new ideas and promising models of reform from around the country. From the wreckage, New Orleans is emerging as a bold experiment in what a city school system can be."

As you can see in this excerpt from the article entitled "The Sc- hools that Katrina Built" there is a true belief that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that has happened to the public education system in New Orleans. Even the title of the article makes that message clear, however there does not seem to be much input from the New Orleans community themselves on what they would like their education system to be like. And when I say community I mean parents, families, students, teachers, staff, and everyone else who has a stake in the education system in New Orleans.

It cannot simply be the "education leaders" and corpor- ations that are making all of the decisions about what the education system should look like in New Orleans. Also, having people not from New Orleans making all of the conclusions is very dangerous, you have these people who are not natives making all of the plans for the natives, people who did not go through the tragedy that Hurricane Katrina caused telling the people who did what is best. These "education leaders" need to be open to the opinions of the real community because otherwise this new experimental education system in New Orleans is going to look seriously close to subjugation.