THANKS, W:

Four years after Katrina, New Orleans reinvents its schools: Disaster gave birth to radical reforms, with lessons for others. (USA Today, 8/25/09)

If there was any silver lining to the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought in New Orleans four years ago, perhaps it is this: The water washed away one of the nation's worst school systems and left New Orleans determined to rebuild in a wholly new way. [...]

-- Innovation. New Orleans has embraced charter schools as no other city has. The Recovery School District's 38 charters, with 11,600 students, outnumber its 30 traditional schools. While the label, "charter," doesn't ensure success, the charter model — taxpayer funded, publicly chartered but run by independent operators — has achieved striking successes in other places. It encourages fresh thinking, makes principals and teachers accountable and does away with bureaucratic shackles, such as retaining poorly performing teachers just because of tenure. Charters are among the city's best performing schools, and Vallas has grafted the model's best ideas onto traditional schools, giving principals the autonomy to hire, fire and promote.

-- Competition. Students are no longer bound by geography; all schools are open to everyone. Schools must compete for students and the attention of picky parents, as well as for their very survival. Unlike the old days, when failing schools limped on forever, Vallas promises to close non-performing schools. One charter closed already.

W should have used his secret weather warfare machine more widely.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 27, 2009 1:19 PM