In the News – August 7, 2013

In this edition of In the News:

  • New Orleans is Hot!
  • Special Education Challenges
  • Good News
  • National Education Stories
  • OPSB Updates
  • Louisiana Headlines
  • Other Local News
  • In Memoriam – Everett Williams

New Orleans is Hot!

Hot U.S. Cities That Offer Both Jobs and Culture Are Mostly Southern and Modest Sized
Daily Beast – July 30, 2013
New Orleans is a “hotspot” and a magnet for opportunity according to the Daily Beast. Looking at employment, per capita income, population growth, the migration of college-educated people, and the quality of life, the Daily Beast found that New Orleans is not only culturally rich but also a good place to build a career, buy a home, and ultimately raise a family in relative comfort.

Special Education Challenges

Unrelenting New Orleans special education problems alleged in new court filings
Times-Picayune – August 2, 2013
The Southern Poverty Law Center has updated filings in its special education lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE), seeking class action status and arguing, “Over the course of the past eight years, changes to the basic delivery of public education have yet to benefit New Orleans students with disabilities. The system for providing special education in New Orleans is thoroughly broken.” LDE maintains that special education students’ academic performance has significantly improved and that the OneApp enrollment system has eliminated discrimination in enrollment.

Editor’s note: New Orleans’ special education students now outperform the state, having improved a remarkable 144% since 2008, from 18% of special needs students performing Basic or above on state tests to 44%. Also, next year all public schools in Orleans Parish will be part of OneApp except for 10 OPSB charter schools. It is time for them to participate.

Groups criticize public schools for inadequate translation services
The Advocate – August 4, 2013
Two advocacy groups filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of Vietnamese and Latino parents against the OPSB, RSD, Einstein, Collegiate Academies, and Advocates for Academic Excellence (Franklin High School) claiming that New Orleans schools failed to provide adequate translation and interpretation services. The Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association defended its decision to take legal action saying that everyone knew there were problems but nothing was being done.

OneApp is best for families: Editorial
Times-Picayune – July 26, 2013
The Times-Picayune argues that one centralized enrollment system is what’s best for parents and students in our decentralized system of schools. They urge the Orleans Parish School Board to fully commit to OneApp.

Good News

New Orleans Point of Light recipient is invited to the White House
Times-Picayune – July 22, 2013
Aesha Rasheed is one of 12 recipients of the national Daily Point of Light Award for her work as creator of the New Orleans Parents’ Guide to Public Schools and founder of the Parent Organizing Network. The award was created by the George H.W. Bush administration to honor individuals and groups creating meaningful change in communities across America. Congratulations Aesha!

$3 million gift will aid New Orleans teaching ranks
The Advocate – August 3, 2013
Teach for America received a $3 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation to add 510 new teachers in the greater New Orleans area. The New Orleans area currently has about 400 TFA corps members in 112 schools.

National Education Stories

“Run, hide, fight” new mantra for schools in post-Newtown environment
EdSource – July 23, 2013
After the Newtown shootings, the U.S. Department of Education is recommending a new school safety protocol for staff and students called “run, hide, fight,” a major shift from the classroom lockdown policies that schools have followed for years.

Bill to lower student loan rates heads to Obama
Boston Globe – August 1, 2013
Congress has approved legislation that links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. The bill offers lower rates for most students now but higher rates down the line if the economy improves as expected.

The $4 Million Teacher
Wall Street Journal – August 3, 2013
In South Korea, tutoring is a multi-billion dollar business where after-hours classes are offered in every subject for a fee. Companies fight for the best teachers, and the best teachers – those who get results, attract students, are the most prepared, and get the best reviews from students and families – get paid impressive salaries.

New Grading-System Scrutiny May Follow Fall of Fla. Chief
Education Week – August 5, 2013
Tony Bennett’s sudden resignation from Florida’s top education position is causing people to look closely at K-12 oversight and accountability and could trigger tougher questions about state policies that award letter grades to schools. For more on the Tony Bennett fallout, read these opinions in the Education Gadfly.

OPSB Updates

Board games
Gambit Weekly – July 23, 2013
In light of recent OPSB controversy, Clancy DuBos says the prospects for returning state-run public schools to local control appear dimmer than ever. He says fighting over contracts, rather than education, is why the OPSB has been a sinkhole of dysfunction for so long.

11 national firms vie to choose Orleans Parish School Board’s next superintendent
Times-Picayune – August 1, 2013
Eleven search firms have applied to find the OPSB’s next superintendent, including one local firm and several major national players. OPSB’s evaluation committee hopes to present their recommendations at the September board meeting.

New Orleans inspector general argues School Board must cough up financial records
Times-Picayune – July 31, 2013
In new court filings, the New Orleans Inspector General reiterates that the OPSB must submit to an audit by his office and adds that the OPSB’s motion to quash the IG subpoena is unauthorized because the board never voted to take legal action.

Louisiana Headlines

White wants to continue some sort of accountability testing
CityBusiness – July 26, 2013
The LEAP tests will end next year (to be replaced Common Core tests), but Superintendent John White says there will continue to be high stakes testing for Louisiana students.

Louisiana teachers share their stories of child poverty: Robert Mann
Times-Picayune – August 2, 2013
Some of the worst challenges Louisiana teachers face are their students’ emotional, behavioral, and physical problems caused by poverty and neglect.

Education head John White says diploma system needs re-evaluation
The Advocate – August 6, 2013
State Superintendent John White says a key step in boosting career education is for the state to stop offering three different high school diplomas. White wants to have two diplomas, College and Career, and design the Career diploma to better prepare high school students for careers and community or technical schools.

BESE member takes on new state-level responsibilities at Teach for America
Times-Picayune – August 5, 2013
Kira Orange Jones, the head of Teach for America in New Orleans, is taking on new responsibilities to help streamline TFA in Louisiana and expand the program to other parts of the state.

$2 million coming for charter, low-performing schools in Jefferson Parish, New Orleans
Times-Picayune – August 1, 2013
The state has awarded Jefferson Parish and New Orleans close to $2 million to open new charter schools and improve low-performing conventional schools. In New Orleans, approximately $790,000 was awarded to Einstein Charters, Firstline Schools, and an individual operator, Eric Smith, who is currently a teacher at Sophie B. Wright in New Orleans.

Other Local News

School uniforms: the good, the bad and the plaid
Times-Picayune – August 6, 2013
In a series articles, Danielle Dreilinger takes an in depth look at school uniforms. She asks, What’s up with the plaid bell-bottoms?, looks at complications faced by schools dealing with transition, and addresses the more serious issue of uniform expense. This highlights the need for Adopt-A-Family’s School Uniform Drive, which collects donations for uniforms and works with schools to help needy families buy uniforms.

Character education tied to academic achievement, New Orleans panelists say
Times-Picayune – July 25, 2013
At a recent panel discussion, charter leaders discussed character building in their schools. In addition to work that instills honesty and respect in their students, the schools are helping students develop soft skills, such as the ability to express themselves, to talk to administrators, and to deal with people from different backgrounds.

‘Rethinkers’ call for conversations, not suspensions, in New Orleans schools
Times-Picayune – July 26, 2013
At the Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools 8th Annual News Conference, students addressed the problem of school suspensions and violence. They said the answer is “restorative justice” techniques that let kids talk out their problems and come to a solution together, with suspension used only as a last resort. The program is currently in six charter schools and showing success. Langston Hughes decreased suspensions by 74% in three years and saw a 75% reduction in violence.

Why Davenport chose New Orleans school reformer to lead new College of Urban Education
Michigan Live – July 25, 2013
Davenport University in Michigan has hired New Orleans’ own Andre Perry to lead its new College of Urban Education. Perry was the CEO of the Capital One-UNO Charter Network and the Associate Director of the Institute for Quality and Equity in Education at Loyola.

In Memoriam

Educate Now! was saddened to learn of the death of Everett Williams, New Orleans’ first black superintendent of public schools. Williams was deeply committed to the children of New Orleans, and he worked tirelessly for our public school system as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and community leader. Learn more about Everett Williams in this article in the Times-Picayune.