At 2:00 pm today, the presidents of New Orleans’ universities
and colleges issued the following call to service.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The leaders of Tulane University, Loyola University, Xavier University, Dillard University and Our Lady of Holy Cross College issued a “call to service” urging the city’s most qualified and visionary leaders to vie for seats in the Nov. 6 Orleans Parish School Board election. All seven school board seats will be on the ballot.
The call was made at an afternoon press conference held today at Xavier. The deadline for candidates to qualify is Aug. 17.
“This is a watershed election for New Orleans K-12 education,” said Xavier University President Norman Francis. “We need the best New Orleans has to offer. Our children deserve nothing less.”
The school board seated as a result of the election will not only appoint a new superintendent but also will help shape the framework for returning schools within the state’s Recovery School District back to local control. The current school board oversees only a handful of the city’s many public schools now, but that is expected to change as more schools become eligible to rejoin the local district in the years ahead. To preserve achievement gains in public education since Katrina, it is vital to have a board committed to quality, high-performing public schools that benefit all of the children of New Orleans.The education leaders noted that an effective K-12 education is both an antidote for crime and other social ills as well as a lifeline for the area’s universities and colleges whose success is inextricably tied to the quality of local students available for recruitment.
Calling the election critical to the future of New Orleans’ education, the university and college leaders pledged their gratitude to those who choose to run and their unswerving support to those who will be elected to the new board.