New Orleans Charter School System Analysis

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans, leaving in its wake flooding, destruction, death, and the collapse of a corrupt and bankrupt public school system (Polier, 2006). Katrina left the city of New Orleans without physical school structures, without school organization, and most significantly, without a population capable of paying taxes to fund new schools. In response to this problem and the existing problem of a bankrupt school system, the United States government offered substantial financial assistance to organizations and districts that would open charter schools (Garda, 2011). Hurricane Katrina was seen by some as a blessing to the New Orleans school district, allowing for a complete reconstruction and reform of education. The reform was seen as an opportunity to improve prominent race and class inequalities, along with issues centered on teachers and teacher …show more content…
The New Orleans school district and United States government used money to entice organizations to build and run charter schools for multiple reasons, but the most prominent justification of charter schools was the competition that comes with them. The principle argument is that competition between charter schools, in respect to enrollment and overall yearly progress, would in turn increase school quality, safety, and student satisfaction (Hutchinson, Ferrell, Broussard, Brown, & Chrestman, 2014). The district and government believed that charter schools would bring equity for the diverse population of New Orleans. “Rather than promoting education equity, [charter school reform] provides a means for … entrepreneurs to raid the public schools treasury and create new markets at the expense of the poor,” (Dixson, Buras, & Jeffers, 2015, p.