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dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/25/major-challenges-of-new-orleans-charter-schools-exposed-at-naacp-hearing/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/25/major-challenges-of-new-orleans-charter-schools-exposed-at-naacp-hearing/</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Major Challenges of New Orleans Charter
Schools Exposed at NAACP Hearing</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">by <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/author/bill-quigley/"
rel="nofollow">Bill Quigley</a> - April 25, 2017<br>
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<p>New Orleans is the nation’s largest and most complete
experiment in charter schools. After <a
href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/08/18/lessons-from-new-orleans-post-katrina-charter-school-experiment">Hurricane
Katrina, the State of Louisiana took control of public
schools in New Orleans</a> and launched a <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2017/04/no_charter_schools_new_orleans.html">nearly
complete</a> transformation of a public school system
into a system of charter schools. Though there are <a
href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/08/18/lessons-from-new-orleans-post-katrina-charter-school-experiment">spots
of improvement</a> in the New Orleans charter system,
major problems remain.</p>
<p>Many of these problems were on display in New Orleans
when the NAACP, which last year called for a <a
href="http://www.naacp.org/latest/statement-regarding-naacps-resolution-moratorium-charter-schools/">moratorium
on charter schools</a> until issues of accountability
and transparency were addressed, held a community forum
in New Orleans on charters. The New Orleans hearing,
which can be viewed <a
href="http://www.theroot.com/the-naacp-will-learn-the-pain-associated-with-charter-s-1794108582">here</a>,
featured <a
href="http://www.theroot.com/the-naacp-will-learn-the-pain-associated-with-charter-s-1794108582">outraged
students, outraged parents, and dismayed community
members</a> reciting a litany of the problems created
by the massive change to a charter school system. The
single most powerful moment came when a group of
students from <a
href="http://www.therethinkers.org/about.html">Kids
Rethink New Orleans Schools</a> took the podium and
detailed the many ways the system has failed and
excluded them from participating in its transformation.</p>
<p>“We really wanted to share what happens in our schools”
writes 18 year old Big Sister Love Rush in an <a
href="http://therethinkers.tumblr.com/post/159936251024/my-school-is-closed-for-business">article
on the challenges the students face</a>. “How the few
permanent teachers we have work so hard for us, how so
many classes are ran by short term substitutes, how food
runs out at meal times, and how we worry if our school’s
reputation is good enough to support us in getting into
the college or careers we want. We shared how we face
two hour commutes to and from school, are forced to
experiment with digital learning with systems like
Odyssey, are punished for having the wrong color
sweater, or how we worry about being able to attend a
school that will give us the education we need.”</p>
<p>In summary, the NAACP heard that they charter system
remains highly segregated by race and economic status.
Students have significantly longer commutes to and from
school. The percentage of African American teachers has
declined dramatically leaving less experienced teachers
who are less likely to be accredited and less likely to
remain in the system. The costs of administration have
gone up while resources for teaching have declined.
Several special select schools have their own admission
process which results in racially and economically
different student bodies. The top administrator of one
K-12 system of three schools is paid over a quarter of a
million dollars. Students with disabilities have been
ill served. Fraud and mismanagement, which certainly
predated the conversion to charter schools, continue to
occur. Thousands of students are in below average
schools. Students and parents feel disempowered and
ignored by the system.</p>
<p>The birthing of the charter system occurred in 2005
when the community was displaced by Katrina. Control of
the public school system <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2015/09/03/katrina-swept-away-new-orleans-school-system-ushering-in-new-era/?utm_term=.d2fee250085b">was
taken away from a board which had an elected majority
of African American officials and was given to the
white majority board of the state system</a>.</p>
<p>The first casualty of the abrupt change was the
termination of the <a
href="http://www.afsaadmin.org/7000-fired-new-orleans-unionized-school-workers-headed-for-big-payday/">South’s
largest local union</a> and the firing of <a
href="https://neworleans.edweek.org/veteran-black-female-teachers-fired/">over
7000 most African American female teachers</a>.
Attorney Willie Zanders told the NAACP of the years of
struggle for those teachers which, though <a
href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/01/7000_new_orleans_teachers_laid.html">initially
successful</a>, ended in <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/05/supreme_court_denies_katrina_t.html">bitter
defeat</a> years later. The city’s veteran black
educators were replaced by <a
href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0895904815616485">younger,
less qualified white teachers from Teach for America
and Teach NOLA</a>.</p>
<p>The change to charters reduced the <a
href="http://hechingerreport.org/not-controls-schools-matters-whether-care-equity/">percentage
of black teachers from 74 percent to 51 percent</a>.
There are now <a
href="http://educationresearchalliancenola.org/files/publications/ERA-Policy-Brief-Changes-in-the-New-Orleans-Teacher-Workforce.pdf">fewer
experienced teachers</a>, fewer accredited teachers,
fewer local teachers, and more teachers who are likely
to leave than before Katrina. <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/03/27/coghill-teachers-are-the-latest-to-unionize-at-a-new-orleans-charter-school/">Five
charter schools have tried to unionize</a> with United
Teachers of New Orleans. Though two schools cooperated,
two other charters have said they are exempt from NLRB –
a position <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/02/01/national-labor-board-rules-that-two-charter-schools-in-new-orleans-can-be-unionized/">rejected
by the National Labor Relations Board</a>. One of
those charter schools shut out the public in 2016 by <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2016/08/04/how-lushers-school-board-shut-out-the-public-in-dealing-with-teachers-union-drive/">meeting
privately and online</a> over how to respond to
unionization efforts.</p>
<p>New Orleans now <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/01/17/study-says-new-orleans-schools-spend-more-on-administration-and-less-on-teaching-after-charter-transformation/">spends
more on administration and less on teaching</a> than
they did before Katrina. One charter school executive,
who oversees one K-12 school on three campuses, <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/04/new_orleans_charter_salaries.html#incart_river_index">was
paid $262,000 in 2014</a>. At least 62 other charter
execs made more than $100,000. This compares with the
salary of <a
href="http://www1.salary.com/LA/School-Superintendent-salary.html">$138,915
for the superintendent of all the public schools in
Baton Rouge</a>.</p>
<p>Admissions have been dramatically changed. In the new
system, there is no longer any right to attend the
neighborhood school. <a
href="http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/01/15/376966406/a-new-study-reveals-much-about-how-parents-really-choose-schools">86%
no longer attend the school closest</a> to their
homes. Siblings do not automatically go to the same
school, and no one is guaranteed a spot at their local
school. Many <a
href="http://www.nola.com/futureofneworleans/2015/09/diverse_schools_new_orleans_fa_1.html">families
are frustrated</a> by the admission process.</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/11/oneapp_basics_parents.html">Seven
select high performing schools</a> do not use the
system wide application process, called ONE APP. The
“lotteries” run by these super select schools are not
transparent but <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/05/exclusive_public_schools_nola.html">complex
screening devices</a>. The most selective, highest
performing, and well-funded charter schools have <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/05/exclusive_public_schools_nola.html">many
more white children attending them than the system as
a whole as a result of special non-transparent
admission processes</a>. This is so well known that a
local newspaper article headlined its article about some
of the schools as “<a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/05/exclusive_public_schools_nola.html">How
3 top New Orleans public schools keep students out</a>.”</p>
<p>This special admission process has significant racial
impact. <a
href="http://hechingerreport.org/isnt-desegregation-measure-educational-quality/">Most
white students in public schools attend selective
public schools</a> that administer special tests that
students must pass to be enrolled. <a
href="http://educationresearchalliancenola.org/news/new-report-released-did-the-new-orleans-school-reforms-increase-segregation">Tulane
University</a> reported the charter system in New
Orleans remains highly segregated in much the same way
as before Katrina. This seems to be reflective in
schools across the country where the <a
href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/17441/charter_schools_may_actually_be_re_segregating_americas_school_system">charter
school movement has been charged with re-segregating
public schools</a>. One select New Orleans charter
school, Lusher, <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/05/exclusive_public_schools_nola.html">reported
its student body</a> was 53% white, 21% economically
disadvantaged and 4% special education in comparison to
the overall system which is 7% white, 85% economically
disadvantaged and 11% special education.</p>
<p>Another result of eliminating neighborhood schools is
New Orleans students now have nearly <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2013/09/12/cost-of-busing-students-in-new-orleans-rises-as-parents-exercise-school-choice/">double
the commute and the system is paying $30 million to
bus students compared to $18 million before</a>
Katrina. <a
href="https://theneworleansimperative.org/your-host/">Dr.
Raynard Sanders</a> notes the elimination of
neighborhood schools can be observed in the early
morning hours. “We now have thousands of children
beginning their school day travel at 6:15 and ending at
5:15 PM, with many students spending hours or more
traveling to and from school. This insane strategy puts
kids in harms way daily as students cross major
thoroughfares in the early morning hours, which resulted
in one five year old’s death to date. Despite numerous
complaints from parents stating they want neighborhood
schools state education officials have ignored their
cries and continue this dangerous daily student
migration.”</p>
<p>One of the more dramatic and well-documented problems
in the changeover to charters is the absence of services
for students with disabilities.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://www.splcenter.org/news/2010/07/28/children-disabilities-face-discrimination-new-orleans-schools">Southern
Poverty Law C</a>enter sued over disability violations
in 2010… The <a
href="https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/d6_legacy_files/downloads/case/NOLAschools072810.pdf">original
complaint</a> is here. Children with disabilities had
been denied enrollment altogether, forced to attend
schools ill-equipped or lacking resources to serve them,
and suspended without procedural protections. A third
grader with emotional problems was locked in the school
closet and similarly a seventh grader expelled for
emotional disabilities. After suit was filed it took
an additional <a
href="https://www.splcenter.org/news/2014/12/19/splc-negotiates-landmark-settlement-help-new-orleans-students-disabilities">four
years</a> to <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/01/new_orleans_special_education_1.html">set
up a system to uphold the educational rights</a> of
students with disabilities. Now, there is a
district-wide consent decree in place overseen by an
Independent Monitor who reports to the Court.</p>
<p>Yet, the disability problems remain. In 2017 a charter
was rebuked for <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/03/31/friends-of-king-broke-state-law-by-suspending-student-who-seemed-depressed/">suspending
a student who the school thought was depressed</a>.
In 2016 <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/01/renew_charter_fraud_report.html">the
State found that the school was engaging in special
education fraud</a> by illegally taking public money
by artificially inflating special education services,
while at the same time ignoring special education
students, telling staff they were “to be a secondary
priority to students who were more likely to pass the
state assessments” and that some kids “don’t count.” At
another charter, since closed, <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/03/new_orleans_charter_school_vio.html">the
State identified egregious special education
violations</a>. Staff refused to screen students,
tried to keep them from enrolling, put them in rooms
with nothing to do, deprived students of their services,
and faked records to cover it up. Yet another charter
was <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/12/martin_luther_king_jr_charter.html">accused
of telling students with disabilities to stay home</a>.</p>
<p>Discipline has been an ongoing problem. One charter in
2012-2013 had a <a
href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/04/civil-rights-complaints-filed-against-three-new-orleans-schools.php">suspension
rate of 68% meaning over half of the student body was
suspended</a> out of school at least once in a school
year. In 2017 another charter <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/04/06/state-education-officials-are-investigating-an-incident-in-which-a-9-year-old-was-handcuffed-at-school/">used
handcuffs to restrain a 9 year old</a> boy.</p>
<p>Fraud and mismanagement continue to plague New Orleans
under the new system. <strong> </strong>A detailed <a
href="https://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Charter-Schools-Louisiana-Report_web3.pdf">2015
report found systemic financial fraud and
mismanagement</a> of millions of dollars in local
charter schools. The report documented numerous
instances of fraud in charter schools in amounts ranging
from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars at ten
different schools. These problems resulted from a
dramatic underinvestment in oversight, reliance on
self-reporting of fraud and mismanagement, insufficient
auditing techniques, and understaffed and overworked
auditors.</p>
<p>Transparency is a problem. The State of Louisiana has
been <a
href="http://www.datacenterresearch.org/reports_analysis/the-new-orleans-youth-index-2016/">withholding
basic school data about economic disadvantage and
language</a> issues until a <a
href="http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_76e860ca-8bd9-11e6-9963-cf5829bedcf3.html">recent
court decision</a> made it public. There have been
problems with lack of compliance with Open Meetings Law
even into <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2017/03/15/state-says-renew-schools-broke-law-by-meeting-privately-to-interview-ceo-candidates/">2017</a>.
The overall <a
href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.827.685&rep=rep1&type=pdf">whiteness
of the education reform movement in New Orleans</a>,
which has been pointed out by scholars, was also
criticized at the NAACP forum. The authorization
process for starting charter schools has been criticized
by African Americans in New Orleans as <a
href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0895904815616485">actively
working to keep local African Americans from operating
charter schools</a>.</p>
<p>The NAACP was offered hours of painful evidence that
the charter system has significant problems with
transparency and accountability. These problems led <a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/04/new_orleans_school_reunification1.html">Representative
Joseph Bouie of New Orleans</a>, the head of the
Louisiana Black Caucus and former Chancellor of Southern
University in New Orleans to insist to the NAACP that
the experiment of charters schools imposed on the
children of New Orleans was similar to the <a
href="https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm">Tuskegee
syphilis experiment</a> conducted on African
Americans.</p>
<p>No doubt many students are being left behind in the
charter school experiment. <a
href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/what-new-orleans-can-teach-betsy-devos-about-charter-schools-214610">Thousands
of students</a> are attending schools rated C or
below. According to a 2016 report on <a
href="http://thelensnola.org/2016/11/17/compare-latest-new-orleans-public-school-ratings/">Grades
for the public schools</a> in New Orleans: 8 schools
received F; 21 received D; 26 received C; 11 received B;
12 received A.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/scope-brief-student-experiencesneworleans.pdf">Stanford
Center for Opportunity in Education issued a report on
the system in September 2015</a> which concluded:
“Successful reform must also support school improvement
in ways that ultimately create a set of schools that are
worth choosing, in which every child will choose and be
chosen by the schools that meet their needs. <em><u>That
system has not yet been created in New Orleans.</u></em>
Time will tell whether it can be developed. It is likely
that acknowledging the realities of the experiences of
the most vulnerable children is a necessary first step
in that direction.</p>
<p>NOLA reforms have created a set of schools that are
highly stratified by race, class and educational
advantage; this impacts the assignment to schools and
discipline in the schools to which students are
assigned. Fully 89 percent of white students and 73
percent of Asian students in New Orleans attend Tier 1
schools. However, only 23.5% of African American
students have access to these schools. And whereas 60%
of students who are above the poverty line (i.e. those
who can pay for their school lunch) attend Tier 1
schools, only 21.5% of students whose family income is
low enough to be eligible to receive a free lunch have
access to these schools. Not only do Tier 1 schools rank
as the best in the city, they consistently rank among
the best schools in the state of Louisiana.”</p>
<p>As the New York Times reported in an article titled
“The Myth of the New Orleans School Makeover,” “The <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/opinion/sunday/the-myth-of-the-new-orleans-school-makeover.html?_r=3">New
Orleans miracle is not all it seems</a>. Louisiana
state standards are among the lowest in the nation. The
new research also says little about high school
performance. And the average composite ACT score for the
Recovery School District was just 16.4 in 2014, well
below the minimum score required for admission to a
four-year public university in Louisiana. There is also
growing evidence that the reforms have come at the
expense of the city’s most disadvantaged children, who
often disappear from school entirely and, thus, are no
longer included in the data.”</p>
<p>The students in the system are taking matters in their
own hands. As <a
href="http://therethinkers.tumblr.com/post/159936251024/my-school-is-closed-for-business">Rethink
student leaders write</a>: “Youth lives, voices, and
futures are not being valued. A stand for justice needs
to be took and the time is now! Youth are the experts
and we deserve to be treated like we are… We want
curriculum that represent us and people like us. We
want input from youth of color on curriculum and teacher
trainings. We want educational infrastructure to
support youth entrepreneurship, youth cooperatives and
business opportunities that support the communities we
come from. And we want real youth and community input
and veto power on all decisions regarding school
openings, closings, leadership, and locations.”</p>
<p>The NAACP hearing certainly documented many of the
problems. The question remains as to what will be done
about them. The students are not waiting.</p>
</div>
<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>Bill Quigley</strong>
teaches law at Loyola University New Orleans and can be
reached at <a href="mailto:quigley77@gmail.com">quigley77@gmail.com</a>.</em>
</p>
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