Even before Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Schools suffered from a lack of teachers, run down facilities and failure to meet state and national guidelines. Since the devastating storm those problems are compounded. As students and families trickle back into New Orleans Schools, those in leadership roles must provide all the necessities to educate the current 27,000 children, along with 100 more who are enrolled each week.
New Orleans Schools have a new leadership team in place to guide the way. Paul Pastorek was recently named Louisiana Schools Chief, and Paul Vallas will head the Recovery School District (RSD), which includes most schools previously run by the state board. Vallas, who has served as superintendent for both Philadelphia and Chicago Schools, appears very realistic about the troubles plaguing the New Orleans Schools. But he also claims that, This will be the greatest experiment in choice, in charter, and in creating not only a school system, but also a system of schools.
Vallas has said that the lack of usual limitations will create opportunities, but that the limited finances will remain challenging. New Orleans Schools currently have a mix of 58...