This is the story of the destruction of John McDonogh High School in New Orleans. Once a community hub, it was taken over in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Students, alumni, and community members have repeatedly appealed, demonstrated, and gone to the state board to seek the return of the school as a public school. They have been stymied and rebuffed again and again by State Superintendent John White and the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. This post is a chronology of events at John McDonogh, from 2005 to the present. Those in the local community who remember what the school was continue to fight for its revival.
At one point, John White promised to consider a plan but then abruptly turned the school over to Steve Barr, who long ago created the Green Dot charter chain and then started a new charter chain called the Future is Now (FIN). Oprah filmed a show about Barr’s new charter school in New Orleans and promised to follow what she was sure would be the miraculous transformation of a “failing school” into a great charter school. Scores plummeted at John McDonogh under FIN, and the charter left town.
Students, parents, and alumni again returned to the state board, pleading for their school to be turned back into a public school. Again, they were rebuffed by a board stacked with charter-friendly, TFA-friendly members. The member who was most consequential in rejecting the community was Kira Orange-Jones, who was elected to the board while she was executive director for TFA in the state. The expansion of charter schools in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and elsewhere depends on the continuing flow of inexperienced TFA corps members who are happy to work 60-70 hours a week and leave after two or three years.
What you will see as you read this account is a remarkable number of overlapping relationships, conflicts of interests, and collusion among “reform” groups to disempower the local community and keep control far away from them.
The post reminds me of Kristen Buras’ study of New Orleans titled “Charter Schools, Race, and Urban Space: Where the Market Meets Grassroots Resistance.” Buras documented the fact that New Orleans public schools were underfunded before the hurricane in 2005. Once the district was taken over by the state, money began to flow by the tens–maybe hundreds– of millions from the federal government and philanthropies. The more charters, the more outside money. Charters were never underfunded.
In the latest round over the future of John McDonogh High School, the Recovery School Board decided to turn it into a charter elementary school “focusing on engineering and exploration.” The friends and alumni of John Mac lost again. They plan to appeal the decision. What are their chances? The powerful in Louisiana do not want any public schools in New Orleans.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The City Of New Orleans” (apologies to Steve Goodman, RIP)
Chartering the City Of New Orleans
Recovery District, charter Holy Grail
Fifty-eight schools and 33 thousand students
Superintendent; Fifty-eight principals
All along the dollar-bound odyssey – the charter pulls out a city key
And rolls along o’er teachers, staff, and parents
Closing schools where public rules, and PTA’s for neighborhoods
And the school yards of the rusted teacher mobile
Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your charter son
I’m the charter called the City Of New Orleans
I’ll be gone with five-hundred mil, when the year is done
Playing test games with the CEO’s in the clubhouse
Opening tests – ain’t no one watching store
Pass the paper bag with school-assignments
Seal the deals in backrooms ‘hind the door
And the grads of online programs, and the grads of TFA
Start their magic miracle charters for a steal
Hedge-funds with their pockets deep, flocking to the charter beat
And the rhythm of the jails they’ll never feel
Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your charter son
I’m the charter called the City Of New Orleans
I’ll be gone with five-hundred mil, when the year is done
Charter-time in the City Of New Orleans
Closing schools is easy as can be
Halfway done – we’ll be there by morning
Through the New Orleans darkness, rolling down to the sea
And all the towns and people seem to fade into a charter dream
And the students still ain’t heard the news
The CEO sings his songs again – the local folks will please refrain
This place got the disappearing public school blues
Good night, America, how are ya?
Said, don’t you know me? I’m your charter son
I’m the charter called the City Of New Orleans
I’ll be gone with five-hundred mil, when the year is done
I am stealing this! I will give SomeDAMpoet the credit. 🙂
Be my guest.
But please give the credit where credit is due: Steve Goodman.
Somehow, I think he would like this version of his song.
Great poem Some DAM Poet! New Orleans does not deserve this, no community deserves this. We must fight on!!!
crossposted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/New-Orleans-Collusion-Co-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Community_Conflict-Of-Interest_Control_Education-150507-397.html#comment544122
with this comment:
if you have ben following my posts about education, then you know that the oligarchs have put into place a plan that ends public education… district by district, state by state.
Again, as I say each time I post the charter takeover, I recommend that you get the feed from the Diane Ravitch blog, and the NPE and put charter schools into the search field… learn THE TRUTH…because these schools serve to enrich the privateers while posing as “choice.” When they fail the state takes over. Already many state legislators have taken over the schools, and not a single educator is on board.
So let me get this straight:
Rheephormish: The New Orleans Miracle. Charters. Choice.
Translation: the few make the choices for the many. Over and over again. Like it or lump it.
Coming to a public school district near you.
😱
The goal is to do this all over America. They also eliminate elected school boards. The bottom line for Charters is to eliminate true parental choice and eliminate parental interference. No Choice No Voice. All the while people like Gates, Walton , Broad and others rake in the dough. Lobbyists buying state legislators to push the agenda. ESEA and RTTT all designes to destroy public education. There is only one solution. Shut doen the US Dept. Of Ed. If that doesn’t happen then parents and communities need to come together and STARVE THE BEAST. http://www.starvethebeastusa.com‘
The goal is to do this all over America. They also eliminate elected school boards. The bottom line for Charters is to eliminate true parental choice and eliminate parental interference. No Choice No Voice. All the while people like Gates, Walton , Broad and others rake in the dough. Lobbyists buying state legislators to push the agenda. ESEA and RTTT all designed to destroy public education. There is only one solution. Shut doen the US Dept. Of Ed. If that doesn’t happen then parents and communities need to come together and STARVE THE BEAST. http://www.starvethebeastusa.com‘
The Feds drone on and on about accountability. Where is there accountability to ensure that public education is adequately funded? When did we become a fascist republic where democracy is silenced? People should have a voice in how their children will be educated. This partiality towards charters is revolting. Why isn’t the government responsible for proving that charter schools do a better job before they sink our money into it? We are throwing tax dollars away to enrich a few at the expense of many.
Sorry: their
Diane, thank you!!! and please keep following the money. RSD received ~$35m to renovate John Mac in about 2012 after years of delays and non-prioritized haggling behind closed doors. RSD has never released the funds despite the building’s terrible condition and student health being endangered. [Meanwhile they are fighting a ridiculous battle about rebuilding Booker T. Washington HS over a toxic dump site!]
So now, they have pledged the John McDonogh building to a K-8, “diverse” charter school. (It’s more white than the city or neighborhood is.) This charter was started by “Nola Ed 4.0” a Matt Candler non-profit funneling charter money to white guys from out of town with ‘brilliant ideas’ when the ACTUAL john mac community can’t even get a meeting with state officials or basic honesty from any of the charters they are dealing with.
So is RSD now going to release the renovation money, which they withheld when it was minority adolescents occupying the building?
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/senate-votes-to-create-special-district-for-low-performing-schools-in-texas.html/
“Public schools in Texas that are low performing for two years could be placed in a special statewide school district to help them improve under legislation approved Thursday by the Senate.
The measure by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, would create the Texas Opportunity School District to oversee low-performing campuses across the state. The superintendent of the special district, appointed by the state education commissioner, would use a wide range of tools to upgrade each campus, such as contracting with a private company to manage the school……
…..Opportunity school districts – sometimes called achievement school districts – already operate in other states, including Louisiana and Tennessee. West said his proposal is patterned after some of those programs….”
A case study in Smash and Grab…