New Orleans isn't an all-charter district any more, writes Hechinger's Ariel Gilreath. The district has opened its own preK-8 school, replacing a low-rated school that lost its charter.
“There’s a sense that if we’re a system of choice and a system of innovation, one choice should be a school run in a traditional way by the school district directly, with a focus on the neighborhood,” said Carlos Zervigon, a member of the Orleans Parish School Board.
Before Katrina, nearly 20 years ago, New Orleans had very low-performing schools and a history of corruption. "The 2005 hurricane pushed a district already on the brink into collapse," writes Gilreath.
New Orleans' schools are much better than before Katrina, says Douglas N. Harris, a Tulane professor who runs the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice.
“Test scores went up, high school graduation, college graduation, ACT scores — everything improved, which is really unusual . . . It’s generally the most successful district school reform that we’ve ever seen — of any kind, not just a charter district.”
In 2019, New Orleans schools were among the top in the nation for academic growth according to a Stanford University report. But annually, most of the city’s schools get a C, D, or F rating on state report cards.
However, parents want stability, says J. Celeste Lay, a Tulane political science professor. Closing low-performing or financially struggling schools improves achievement, but it's tough on displaced students.
“It’s just not reasonable to tolerate closing schools anymore,” Zervigon said. “This idea of closing your way to improvement — no one wants to do that.”
And yet, as CREDO researchers write, "The widespread failure of school improvement strategies" makes it "unattractive and impractical" to keep chronically low-performing schools open in the hope of making progress over time.
“It’s just not reasonable to tolerate closing schools anymore,” Zervigon said. “This idea of closing your way to improvement — no one wants to do that.”
Replace "schools" in the above with "restaurants", "auto body shops" or "kitchen appliance stores" and try that on. The tragedy isn't that failing charter schools close, it's that failing government schools (or other institutions) --don't-- close, but like the La Brea tar pits, go on destroying lives indefinitely.