By the Numbers: Who is Leading Our Schools?
There has been a lot of talk – from both friends and foes of New Orleans K-12 Ed Reform – about outsiders coming in to run the schools. So, Educate Now! surveyed every OPSB and RSD school, direct run and charter, to get a profile of who is leading our schools and whether they were here before the levees broke.
Let’s take a look at the numbers.
There are 77 schools for the 2015-16 school year and 85 school leaders, as some schools have more than one leader.
| District | African- American |
White | Other | Lived in N.O. pre-Katrina |
|
RSD-NO
|
30 | 24 | 4 | 26 |
|
OPSB
|
13 | 13 | 1 | 21 |
|
New Orleans
|
43 | 37 | 5 | 47 |
|
Percent
|
51% | 43% | 6% | 55% |
The education reforms post-Katrina have been the work of veteran and new educators, and the work of New Orleanians who were here before the storm as well as others who moved here to be part of rebuilding a great city.
Our educators are more ethnically diverse, but a majority of our school leaders and a majority of our teachers are still African-American.
As we commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Katrina and the beginning of another school year, I hope we can join together to celebrate the remarkable progress that has been made in our schools and thank all of our teachers and administrators, both those from New Orleans and those who moved here more recently, as they work tirelessly to provide educational opportunities for our students.