School Operation Changes Proposed

By JOE GYAN JR.

School operation changes proposed

NEW ORLEANS The education arm of Mayor Ray Nagins Bring New Orleans Back Commission on Tuesday proposed fundamentally changing the way the citys public schools are run in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including giving principals more control and parents a choice between district and charter schools organized into clusters of eight to 14 schools.

The Education Committees presentation was followed by a report from the commissions Cultural Committee, which said arts and culture are fundamental to rebuilding New Orleans and should be made a centerpiece of the citys revival.

The commissions Health & Social Services and Infrastructure committees will release their final reports today, followed by the Government Effectiveness Committee on Thursday and the Economic Development Committee on Friday. The Urban Planning Committee presented its report last week.

The seven reports eventually will be molded into one document and comprise the commissions master plan for rebuilding New Orleans.

Education Committee Chairman and Tulane University President Scott Cowen said the committees report titled Rebuilding and Transforming: A Plan for World-Class Public Education in New Orleans aims to turn the Orleans Parish public school system from one of the worst in the country to one of the best by focusing on schools and students rather than the central administrative office.

New Orleans deserves nothing less, he said. This is a very practical dream. We can make this happen. We really can.

Under the committees plan, schools would be organized into small clusters to provide support, foster collaboration between educators and ensure accountability. A manager would oversee each cluster while a lean district office would focus on academic standards and performance monitoring.

The committees plan includes defining explicit instructional standards by grade and subject that align with college and workforce readiness and recommends giving parents the right to choose from any school, making quality school options available to all students, raising the bar for educators throughout the system, forging new partnerships to engage parents and the community to support student learning, and providing programs before and after school to enrich student learning.

The plan also includes a universal pre-kindergarten program for 3- to 5-year-olds to give all students a solid start and a higher likelihood of success throughout their education. The committee recommends that a national advisory board counsel the New Orleans public school system for the next five to 10 years.

Cowen said the plan, which had input from 20 national experts and all the public schools operating in the city when Katrina hit Aug. 29, is designed to promote equality at each step of the education process and close the gap between the haves and the have nots.

You hear the phrase no child left behind. Id actually like to give meaning to that, he said. The future of this city is our children. This is all about the children.

The plan also calls for a single, aligned and highly effective governing board.

There is no one way to achieve this, Cowen said, referring to whether the currently elected Orleans Parish School Board should be appointed, elected or a combination of both in the future.

The board that governs Philadelphias public schools is appointed, he said, while the public school board in Oakland, Calif., is elected. The committee studied both of those school districts.

There were 122 public schools operating in Orleans Parish when Katrina struck. Today, there are 9,000 public school students enrolled in 17 schools the vast majority charter schools in the city with room for 12,000 students, Cowen said. Charter schools are part of the long-term solution but are not the exclusive long-term solution, he said.

Cowen stressed that the Education Committees plan must have the support of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, Nagin, the Orleans Parish School Board, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state Department of Education.

One plan, one message, nobody deviates from it, he said. Everybodys got to stand behind the plan.

The Orleans School Board passed a resolution last week supporting the committees plan to transform the citys public school system.

We have a rare opportunity to transform our school system to ensure that all students, regardless of race or class, are prepared for success at each step in the education process, School Board President Phyllis Landrieu said.

The commissions Cultural Committee recommended building a national jazz center that would roll a museum, performance hall, recording studio and archive into one. The committee also called for creating new artistic districts, increasing the teaching of arts in schools and setting aside 2 percent of eligible capital bonds for public sculptures, murals and other artwork.

The panels report also endorsed a plan to preserve several old buildings on Rampart Street associated with Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden, Sidney Bechet and other jazz greats and turn them into a jazz park.

The culture of New Orleans is its identity, New Orleans-born jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the committees co-chairman, said. If you let it, culture will bring back the city we love.

First and foremost, he said, is bringing the citys musicians and artists back by supporting nonprofit cultural organizations through low-interest loans and grants and other programs and providing stipends and employment to artists and cultural entrepreneurs through job creation efforts.

Cultural Committee Chairman Cesar Burgos, a New Orleans lawyer, said the committee is seeking a three-year investment from the federal government of $648 million. Jay Weigel, director of the citys Contemporary Arts Center and a signatory to the report, said that dollar amount is a mere 1 percent of the $85 billion that President Bush has committed to the city.

Is that ($648 million) too much to restore the soul of our city? We dont think so, Weigel said.

The committees reports says an estimated 11,000 people working in the citys cultural sector before Katrina hit have lost their jobs and the ranks of musicians are down from more than 2,500 to under 250.

Uninsured damage to cultural property and arts businesses topped $80 million, according to the report, and performing artists suffered $38.5 million in uninsured damages; visual artists $5.9 million; writers $4.7 million; and design professionals $23.3 million.

Pre-Katrina, the citys cultural sector employed 15,000 people and contributed more than $300 million annually to the local economy, the report says.

The committee called for the creation of the New Orleans Cultural Restoration Oversight Commission to guide the plans implementation.