In a historic first, the Dr. King charter school in the New Orleans Recovery School District asked to return to the Orleans Parish Board.
“Friends of King Schools made history Tuesday by becoming the first Recovery School District charter school board to seek to return a campus to the oversight of the Orleans Parish School Board.
“The charter school board opted to leave a system built on choice, the all-charter RSD, by exercising its right to choose its authorizer. The vote to return Dr. King Charter School to the School Board was unanimous, said Orleans Parish School Board member Ira Thomas, who was in attendance. Thomas represents the district that includes King.
“The transfer must still be approved by the state school board and parish school board.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The New Orleans RSD is a miracle according to the leaders of the self-proclaimed “education reform” movement.They’re all for “choice.”
So I am sure that this news will be trumpeted far and wide by the “education reform” establishment—
NOT!
The silence may be deafening.
😎
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OMG!
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I can hardly wait to hear the response.
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Here is an issue which goes beyond the charter movement but which explains the failure of so many charter schools. It’s a question of leadership. The importance of putting the right administration in place cannot be overemphasized. Any teacher can point out the principals whose leadership has driven them to new heights and those who make them want to start filling out job applications. The principal sets the tone. And the Suoerintendent supports those principals, providing the resources and training necessary to raise the staff up to the next level. An effective School Board works with their Superintendent and does not micromanage their efforts. (At one point I personally knew or had spoken with over half my school board. My favorite Board Member would visit the faculty room with donuts the first week of school, wishing the teachers a successful school year. She had our backs, but left after her term was over due to her treatment by the other Board members. She is now a NYS Supreme Court Judge.)
The coordination of administration, board, and staff cannot be emphasized. And it is an especially important factor in “difficult” situations where poverty is pervasive, such as in places like New Orleans (and Buffalo). What I have left unsaid is that the people filling these positions must be there for the right reasons. They must be driven to do right for the student population. Their focus must be on the children – not egos, not money, not outside interests. They must also have the skill sets to achieve these goals. You can’t take someone off the streets and expect them to be successful in running a school or school district.
And that is the problem of charter schools. Even those who are well intentioned don’t necessarily have the skilled, “seasoned” leadership needed to be effective. I’ve been involved with the startup of new schools and there is a lot of trial and error, but successful schools learn from their mistakes and try not to repeat them. They make changes to improve their programs so that the student body has a chance to excel.
The additional factor which is effecting education is the interference from the state and federal governments which have changed their roles from supporting agencies to unwanted meddlers who are trying to micromanage every detail within each school across the country. GET YOUR FINGER OUT OF THE PIE. Instead of allowing school districts to run effectively, they have interfered and disrupted the natural flow so that administrators (and teachers) attentions are now focused on following all the rules and regulations instead of on the children.
Kudos to the Dr. King Charter School in New Orleans who has recognized that the leadership in the Public School System will serve their interests better than their current situation. The next step is to get the federal and state government off their backs so they can do their jobs, educating the children in New Orleans.
Ellen T Klock
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