In The News › Schools

The report, titled “Managing Innovation: Models for Governing the System of Public Schools in New Orleans,” was released by two watchdog groups: Tulane University’s Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives and the Bureau of Governmental Research.

It comes at an opportune time; the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education must decide by late this year whether to extend state control over most of the city’s public schools beyond 2011 or return them to local control.

The Orleans Parish School Board Financial Working Group is an independent group consisting of experts in education, law, facilities and finance put together by the Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives in October 2008. The Working Group members include Grover Austin, Rick Conway, Leslie Jacobs, Janet Howard, David Marcello, Farhad Patel, Cleland Powell and me.

Louisiana’s board of education unanimously approved a $2 billion school facilities plan for New Orleans, paving the way for the largest school building boom in the city’s history.

As planners create a blueprint for the future of public education in New Orleans, questions have arisen about where to find $1.2 billion to build it. But education leaders say ongoing construction projects are helping streamline the process and point to an affordable school building strategy.

School officials on Monday will unveil a revised school facilities master plan that shifts more projects into the first, five-year phase — the only portion of the sweeping plan currently fully financed — and defers decisions on closing four currently occupied campuses for several years.

BGR questions the School Facilities Master Plan.

Recovery School District officials say they don’t need to have financing in place for their entire 20-year school construction program to start replacing aging and flood-damaged buildings.

Two independent groups on Wednesday raised red flags about the long-term financing behind the city’s ambitious and unprecedented school construction plan.

Three of the four candidates for the 3rd District Orleans Parish School Board seat agree that finding ways to settle the board’s half-billion-dollar debt is a priority for the district.

New Orleans voters renewed four millages dedicated to public education on Saturday, recommitting about $32 million annually in tax money for purposes such as dropout prevention and teacher salaries.

New Orleans voters go to the polls today to decide whether to renew four property tax millages that bring in about $32 million annually for the city’s public schools, including charter schools.

Public education in New Orleans is improving. The latest LEAP test results show improvement across all school districts, ACT scores are up, charter schools offer more choices for parents, and in many schools the academic day and year have been extended. We need to keep this momentum going. Gambit Weekly therefore urges New Orleans citizens to go to the polls this Saturday (July 19) and vote FOR the four property tax renewals for public schools.

This newspaper makes the following recommendations for propositions on the ballot Saturday.

In just two years, a mix of new and veteran educators have done what no educational reform movement had been able to do in Orleans Parish in over 30 years: They changed the landscape of public education and gave us hope for the future of our children and city

A diverse coalition of supporters is trying to generate interest in an upcoming midsummer vote to determine whether public schools in New Orleans will continue to collect about $30 million annually in taxes for such purposes as dropout prevention and teacher salaries.