New Orleans Board Backs Charters as Governor Calls for Stepped-Up State Role

The New Orleans school board, previously deeply divided over whether to reopen schools as charter schools, has unanimously decided to expand and move ahead with its charter school plan.

At an Oct. 28 meeting, the board voted 6-0, with one member absent, to open 20 charter schools, the first public schools that would reopen since Hurricane Katrina interrupted the school year. The vote placed back on track a charter school effort that previously had been driven by four members of the board, with two members strongly opposed.

However, the vote came just before Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco made clear on Nov. 1 that she wants the state to take over New Orleans public schools, presumably by wresting control...