La. Lawmakers OK Plan to Give State Control of Most New Orleans Schools

The Louisiana legislature has voted overwhelmingly to hand control of most New Orleans public schools to the state, a major outcome of a wide-ranging special session that ended Nov. 22. The measure was a top priority of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco during the session, which began Nov. 6 and dealt with issues raised by the devastation Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought to the state.

The takeover plan was approved 89-14 in the House on the final day of the session. One day earlier, the Senate, by a vote of 33-4, backed the legislation, which the governor was expected to sign.

“Families won’t come back without good public schools,” Gov. Blanco, a Democrat, said at a Nov. 22 press conference, according to The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans. “The state will redesign the schools as an overdue...