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Special National School Advisers Hired By Louisiana Board of Education

Posted on: Monday, 20 February 2006, 03:03 CST

By Anonymous

Today the Louisiana Board of Education today initiated a process to create new, high-quality public schools for the city of New Orleans over the next two years. The Board unanimously voted to engage the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to provide support services for the Recovery School District. Services will include evaluation of charter proposals this spring, staffing the Superintendent's Advisory Committee, developing and implementing operations and accounting requirements and helping execute school contracts providing thorough oversight of the new schools.We are delighted to have NACSA make this commitment to the schoolchildren of Orleans Parish. This organization's national reputation for trustworthiness, strong management and the pursuit of excellence in educational contracting will help us succeed in this unprecedented initiative, said State Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard.I am pleased that an organization like NACSA is willing to come in and assist us with rebuilding a quality public school system for the children of New Orleans, said Linda Johnson, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education president and chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority Education Committee. We only get one chance in New Orleans to do it right and I am not willing to settle for anything less than the highest of quality and I think NACSA brings that kind of standard.One of the keys to reopening our home is the rebuilding our school systems, said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans. As leaders in our community, we must be committed to providing all of our educators with the tools they need to ensure that every child is learning.NACSA President Greg Richmond, the former director of New Schools Development at the Chicago Public Schools, will oversee the project with a team of six experienced authorizers and consultants.The Recovery School District initiative is a rare opportunity to do something unique and great in public education - to completely rethink the kind of schools we need to meet the requirements of the 21st century, Richmond said. There is a rare level of unanimity in Louisiana that accountable charter schools are the way to do this. I would expect many of the schools NACSA will help the community authorize over the next two years will have this great city, its heritage and its revival as a central theme of the curriculum.The Louisiana Department of Education issued a call earlier this month for high quality charter providers for 38 available schools for the 2006-07 school year. Richmond said the best nonprofits and education management organizations in the nation will respond to NACSA's and the Department's call for quality new schools.Just as millions of Americans dug deep to contribute funds for hurricane relief, our best educators will want to help the children of New Orleans have the best educational opportunities going forward, said Richmond.Later this month, Picard will appoint an RSD Advisory Committee to help develop a strategy for rebuilding quality public schools in New Orleans. NACSA will support that process. Education officials have until the end of May to present a formal plan to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for the Recovery School District. The plan will take into account input from the public, city planners, demographers and others working to rebuild the city of New Orleans. Results from the department's Web site survey and call center will also be reviewed routinely to assist with planning.

(Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires)

Source: New Orleans CityBusiness

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