New Orleans Back On The Right Track

The city of New Orleans has been slowly improving ever since Hurricane Katrina. Before the traumatic hurricane, more than 60 percent of children in this city attended a failing school. Now, 6 years later, only about 18 percent do. This is a huge step forward for the city of New Orleans. New Orleans Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the progress has been "stunning." The author of the article believes this progress is being made after the hurricane because the hurricane "destroyed the old system, allowing the city to begin fresh." The city of New Orleans has also made some major changes in their school systems. They laid off ALL of their teachers, and made them take a basic skills test if they wished to return. Only about 20 percent of the original teaching force returned to the schools.


The author of this article, Andrew Rosenthal, thinks that the school systems in New Orleans are improving. Rosenthal talks about charter schools in New Orleans and says, "They spend a great deal of time teaching study and time management skills, and plan each student’s development. None of these attributes are particular to charters, but they have helped turn the schools around." He argues that the schools do have a long way to go, but by bringing in "fresh ideas and strong instructional methods" they will continue to improve in the future. 


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