Post by pavel on Apr 21, 2016 4:52:47 GMT -6
New Orleans public schools, mostly independent charters split between two districts, took a big step towards reunification Wednesday (April 20). A bill to return the Louisiana Recovery School District takeover schools to local control passed out of the state Senate like butter melting before the hot knife got there.
The speed and the no-opposition vote strongly suggest that the full Legislature might finally be ready to revisit its 2005 decision that transferred four fifths of New Orleans' public schools to the state-run Recovery system.
What's changed since then is that some of these schools have improved their academic performance, the Orleans Parish School Board has a new superintendent and a cleaner reputation, a veto threat is gone with the departure of pro-charter, pro-Recovery Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal and the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina spurred a lot of talk about the city's next phase.
Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, a member of the Senate Education Committee and historically a big Recovery fan, spoke strongly for Senate Bill 432, saying, "At some point in time, the State of Louisiana has to withdraw from Orleans Parish." The only other speaker was the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans.
Read more: www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/04/rsd_school_return_bill.html
The speed and the no-opposition vote strongly suggest that the full Legislature might finally be ready to revisit its 2005 decision that transferred four fifths of New Orleans' public schools to the state-run Recovery system.
What's changed since then is that some of these schools have improved their academic performance, the Orleans Parish School Board has a new superintendent and a cleaner reputation, a veto threat is gone with the departure of pro-charter, pro-Recovery Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal and the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina spurred a lot of talk about the city's next phase.
Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, a member of the Senate Education Committee and historically a big Recovery fan, spoke strongly for Senate Bill 432, saying, "At some point in time, the State of Louisiana has to withdraw from Orleans Parish." The only other speaker was the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans.
Read more: www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/04/rsd_school_return_bill.html