Instability in the New Orleans Recovery School District – Closing Schools, Opening Schools and Changing School Codes

By Raynard Sanders, Ed.D. | Originally Published at EmpathyEducates. June 19, 2014

Public education in New Orleans has been a nightmare for parents since the state took over most of the schools post Hurricane Katrina. The Louisiana Department of Education has gone to great lengths to mislead parents, the community and the nation about the academic achievement since the takeover.

One tactic they have used is the closing and opening of schools which essentially changes the academic rating of schools. When a school closes that is rated “F” they opened the same school with a new school code and operator which removes the school’s failing status. Then state education officials announces that they have “reduced the number of failing schools”. Essentially what they are doing is moving chairs around the deck of the Titanic.

Despite this game for the past nine years, the schools managed by the Louisiana Department of Education in New Orleans have consistently ranked at the bottom academically when compared with other school districts across the state.

Additionally these mass school openings and closing has other negative effects on the community, Dr. Barbara Ferguson does a excellent job in describing the consequences of the constant opening and closing of schools in New Orleans. Please Read…

The Research

Closing Schools, Opening Schools and Changing School Codes:
Instability In the New Orleans Recovery School District.

By Dr. Barbara Ferguson, Research on Reforms, Incorporated June 2014 | Originally Published at Research on Reform

The Research

Excerpt

During its first few years, the Recovery School District (RSD) simply opened schools in New Orleans, without closing any and without changing any school codes. But, five years ago the RSD began to close schools and change school codes as frequently as it opened schools. These actions compromise the RSD District Performance Score because test scores from students in closed schools are omitted. Also, when the RSD changes a school code, the old code and the test scores listed under that code are often eliminated. In addition, when schools are newly opened, many wait years to receive a School Performance Score, meaning that those students’ test scores are not calculated into the RSD District Performance Score.

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