School & District Management

No Rush to Return to Local Control in New Orleans

August 31, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Will a locally elected board run the majority of public schools again in New Orleans? The prospects for that any time soon aren’t looking too likely in light of remarks late last week from Paul Pastorek, Louisiana’s schools chief.

Pastorek is the ultimate authority over the state-run Recovery School District, which took over most of the city’s schools after Hurricane Katrina hit. In an interview with a Times-Picayune reporter, he said most of NOLA’s schools, which have just begun the arduous process of “turning around,” should continue operating under the state for several more years.

We've begun an upward trajectory, but it's going to take more time to stabilize that, " Pastorek told the T-P. "It's a little early to say whether the Orleans Parish School Board is in a position to maintain that upward trajectory."

He has to make a recommendation some time next year about what the future governance of the city’s schools ought to be.

It seems that about half of NOLA’s residents may agree with Pastorek. In a poll conducted by the Council for a Better Louisiana, 51 percent of respondents said they didn’t think the old school board should be able to reclaim public schools, once they were told that more high school students are graduating and fewer schools are failing.

But what looks like an even more solid indicator for shunning the old board is the popularity of charter schools, which roughly 60 percent of the city’s public children now attend. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said they support charters, while 64 percent said they’d like to see more of traditional public schools converted to charters. The poll surveyed 500 registered voters in the city; 59 percent were African American and 39 percent were white.

Since the storm, the Orleans Parish School Board has run only a handful of schools that were not chronic underperformers. The board also oversees a dozen charter schools. Though the board has several new members, it may take years to shake off its legacy of corruption.

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management How One Principal Got Kids to Pay Attention in Class
Utah principal Shauna Haney brought about one of the first classroom cellphone bans in the state.
2 min read
Cellphone wearing a sleep mask. Cellphone policy.
Irina Shatilova/iStock
School & District Management Celebrate Five Years of The Savvy Principal—A Newsletter Just for School Leaders
The Savvy Principal is full of news, insights, and actionable tips on school leadership.
1 min read
Close cropped photo of a laptop, planner and phone with ear phones attached to it. The phone is displaying an edition of Education Week's The Savvy Principal enewsletter.
Liz Yap/Education Week + Adobe Stock
School & District Management Worried About Withheld Education Funding? Here's How Leaders Can Speak Up
Education leaders must communicate the consequences of withheld K-12 funding to Congress and their own communities.
6 min read
Superintendents Dr. Alex Marrero, Alberto Carvalho, and Joe Gothard
Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero, left, Madison Superintendent Joe Gothard, and Los Angeles Superintendent Alberto Carvalho are among district leaders who've pushed for the release of withheld federal K-12 funding. The three have also sought to explain the consequences to their own communities.
David Zalubowski/AP, Andy Clayton-King/AP, Anthony Behar/AP
School & District Management Opinion ‘You’re Woke’: A Former Superintendent Responds to Intense Backlash
My critics hurled “woke” at me like a verbal grenade—but we need education leaders who are wide awake.
Robert Sokolowski
4 min read
Diverse group of multiethnic multicultural people silhouette. The weaponization of woke.
iStock/Getty Images