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Botched Charter School Plan Spurs Latest New Orleans School Board Infighting

Posted on: Monday, 31 October 2005, 03:01 CST

By Capochino, April

Plans to turn several New Orleans Public Schools into charter institutions could create some confusion when the district's nearly 3,000 students return to class in November.School Board President Torin Sanders and Interim Superintendent Ora Watson have decided four schools on the West Bank - O. Perry Walker High School, Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School, Martin Behrman Elementary School and Alice M. Harte Elementary School - will reopen Nov. 14 as New Orleans Public Schools, not charter schools.That announcement contradicts an Oct. 7 School Board decision to turn all 13 West Bank schools into charter schools and open eight schools in November. However, a week after that meeting, an Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge issued a restraining order against the OPSB to halt the charter school plan. The order was filed on behalf of Rev. Arthur Wardsworth, an Algiers pastor who said the OPSB violated an open- meeting law.Because the judge granted that restraining order, the School Board vote was rendered null and void, said Sanders, who voted against the charter school plan. And Dr. Watson is not sitting here and twiddling her thumbs waiting for a decision to be made. She's ready to open schools.Despite endless snipping among School Board members and outrage among parents and community leaders, no one has publicly opposed the charter schools idea. Sanders said his biggest problem was a lack of communication. He said School Board Vice President Lourdes Moran didn't notify the public, himself or fellow Board members Cynthia Cade and Phyllis Landrieu of the charter school plan before it came up for a vote Oct. 7. At the Oct. 14 meeting, Cade said she was also upset about the lack of communication. At the same meeting, Landrieu said, Pre-Katrina, charter schools seemed to be the logical conclusion to the school problems. Post-Katrina, we don't have the same problems. But we can't count (charter schools) out completely. Sanders said he does not oppose charter schools but the OPSB and the public should have been more involved in the Oct. 7 decision, which he said needed more thought. Sanders said the charter school plan had serious problems as it related to special needs students. If the Board would allow the superintendent - the only educator among us - to review it and present it to the Board, we can go from there, Sanders said. I'm not saying there's not a place for charter schools but let's let the educator put together a plan.Watson said she is open to the idea of charter schools.What I am concerned about is inclusive planning, Watson said. I want to look at the big picture. It's going to take national brain trust to come in here and help put these schools back together.Moran's charter school proposal would turn all 13 West Bank schools into Type 4 charter schools, meaning the OPSB and a nonprofit - in this case the Algiers Charter School Association - would enter into a five-year contract with the state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Meg Casper, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said BESE was scheduled to discuss the charter school proposal at its meetings last week. But the issue was deferred until a special November meeting at a date to be determined.There's no point in voting on a proposal until the School Board gets it straightened out on their end, said Leslie Jacobs, BESE board member.If the School Board and state approves the charter school plan, schools would receive per-pupil funding from the state and qualify for $20.9 million in federal grants to fund the charter schools. The schools would be housed in Orleans Parish school buildings.Advocates say charter schools could help the district, which has long been plagued by high poverty rates and low academic achievement. This could be a huge improvement, said Jim Geiser, president of the Louisiana Charter School Association. Orleans Parish was a mess. The independence that a charter school would give would be good but the real challenge is to do it correctly.He said the district should look to national charter school models to see what has been successful.This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, Geiser said. You have the opportunity to recreate a school district.Moran has publicly said she thinks the restraining order will be lifted and the School Board will be able to go ahead with the plan.Unless I'm missing something, I do not see how this could not be advantageous for the city of New Orleans and our children, Moran said.The School Board is scheduled to meet again at the end of October. But its meeting dates have been subject to rapid changes and little public notice.Officials with Alvarez & Marsal, the New York firm hired to turn around the school district, say they are working with the School Board's decisions.A&M will develop plans for opening schools as expeditiously as possible under whatever system the board desires, said spokesman Steve Alschuler.

(Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires)

Source: New Orleans CityBusiness

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