Two New Orleans charters, both from the Algiers charter chain, are closing. Read the article to see what is happening to the students. They are moved around like pieces on a giant checker board.
A few months ago, the Education Research Alliance of Tulane University published a report about the success of the New Orleans charter model (Formula: get a natural disaster to wipe out high-poverty neighborhoods and many schools, reduce enrollment by 1/3, change the overall demographics, fire all the teachers and bring in TFA, eliminate the union, replace public schools with private charters, open selective charters for the “best” kids, segregate the poorest black kids, put the structure under an uncritical State board elected with help from out-of-State billionaires, and VOILA! A school miracle!).
But not quite.
Bruce Baker pointed out that the ERA’s glowing report about the privatization of NOLA ignored the significant addition of new funding and the reduction of concentrated poverty after Hurricane Katrina, which together might have accounted for any gains.
Mercedes Schneider analyzed the NOLA data and found that New Orleans has the state’s highest performing schools (selective admissions) and the state’s lowest performing schools. Forty percent (40%) of the charters in the New Orleans district are failing schools, rated as D or F by the state. This latter group enrolls high numbers of poor and black students.
Not a model for the nation, if you care about equity.
According to the data in Mercedes Schneider’s report, the two schools that are closing have 670 students. Only two are white. More than 95% of the students in these schools are poor.
From the article about the closure of the two charters:
Two charter schools located in Algiers are set to close next June after failing to meet the standards required for charter renewal. The Algiers Charter Schools Association announced it will close William J. Fischer Accelerated Academy and McDonogh No. 32 Literacy Charter School in 2019.
In addition, McDonogh No. 32 students will relocate to the Fischer campus on Wednesday (Oct. 24) when the Algiers Charter network returns from fall break. School leaders decided to house both schools in the campus at 1801 L.B. Landry Avenue for the remainder of the school year because of low enrollment at both schools.
In an Oct. 5 letter to parents, Algiers Charter Interim CEO Stuart Gay said the changes are part of an effort “to stabilize our classrooms through the 2018-2019 school year and to ensure the best academic year possible for our students.”
Though the two schools will be under the same roof, students will keep their respective uniforms and the schools will operate individually, each with their own principals, according to relocation details provided by the charter network on its website. McDonogh No. 32 Pre-K, kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms will be located on the first floor of the Fischer building. All other McDonogh classrooms will be located on the second floor.
Additionally, all McDonogh No. 32 students who are currently in 8th grade will receive a McDonogh diploma. Students grades K-7 from McDonogh No. 32 and Fischer will receive “closing school priority” in OneApp, the city’s centralized enrollment system, for next school year. That means Fischer and McDonogh No. 32 students will be first in line when schools start filling seats for the 2019-20 school year, even ahead of other priority students like those with siblings already enrolled or who live close to a school. That priority is only given to students exiting closing schools.
The academy was one of four schools in the city that serves students expelled from other schools.
Tammi Griffin-Major, Algiers Charter’s chief of staff, declined to comment Tuesday morning on the changes and planned closures.
Financial audits from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office show Algiers Charter Schools Association had $45.3 million in revenue last year. Its expenses were more than $44.9 million. The network currently operates four schools — Fischer, McDonogh No. 32, Martin Behrman Charter School and L.B Landry-O.P. Walker College and Career Preparatory High School.
Miracle? Not for these children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Big surprise that John Arnold funds Douglas Harris’ ERA. ERA lists an association with the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives. (couldn’t find the funders) The Director of Cowen was a lead designer for an XG Super School. Guess the demographics of the top five managers in the site’s photo array.
This summer, ERA got $10 mil. from Betsy’s Dept. of Ed. to create a better product and marketing plan for charter schools.
New Orleans is reported to have a population that is about 60% Black. The photo array for Tulane’s ERA shows 6 staff members, all of whom appear to be White. Of the 9 non-resident research fellows, none appear to be Black. Of the 12 members of the national research team, none appear to be Black.
I have been opposed to any spending of public money on Charter or Voucher Schools. If parents choose not to send their children to public schools, send them to private schools.
Marian, perfectly stated. Paying for vouchers when free public schools are available is equivalent to giving people money to hire private security guards instead of relying on the free police force, or hiring a private fire protection service with public money.
Great analogy, Diane. Thank you.
As a matter of curiosity, I looked up the LB Landry – OP Walker College & Career Preparatory High School in New Orleans. The school is in a huge building. The school offeres four programs. In the Freshman Academy, 9th graders are exposed to all three Landry-Walker career pathways offered as choices in grades 10-12, described below.
The (STEM) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Academy includes the NAF School of Information Technology, Health Sciences, and Engineering. The NAF School of Information Technology appears to be a corporate sponsored program. “NAF academies and corporate partners create a dramatic impact for students beyond what a great school, part-time job, or even a strong coaching relationship can achieve on its own. See naf.org.
The Art and Humanities Academy allows students to choose between digital media, history, social sciences, and visual and performing arts.
The (BEVS) Business, Entrepreneurship & Vocational Studies Academy offers students courses in real estate, cosmetology/barbering, welding, electrical, carpentry, and small business ownership.
In 2017, LB Landry-Walker, was a “D” grade charter school, below the “C” grade required for charter school performance since 2015. It appears to have been bailed out of closure by a May 2108 acceptance into a cohort of 31 other high schools chosen to participate in the Louisiana Department of Education and Johns Hopkins Louisiana High School Redesign Cohort.
This High School Redesign program, sponsored by The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, operates in 14 states, DC, and Guam. Each participating high school agrees to adopt a template for curriculum and data-driven behavioral management…marketed as research-based and called “Talent Development Secondary.” This program is offered in connection with Johns Hopkins “Everyone Graduates Program” a community engagement program enlisting parents and others to ensure students attend school and complete homework.
Only a few features of the current LB Landry-Walker curriculum structure seem to be aligned with the Johns Hopkins model. I was surprised to learn that this Johns Hopkins model curriculum also serves as a marketing platform for specific texts and instructional resources. http://www.tdschools.org/about/curriculum-instruction/
Perhaps I should not have been surprised. Johns Hopkins School of Education has a long history of alliances with the Education Industry Association and the 2016 successor organization Software & Information Industry Association. http://releases.jhu.edu/2012/02/24/school-of-education_education-industry-association/
I think that this relationship between the Johns Hopkins School of Education is an example of a covert corporate takeover of schools, complete with a professional development package for teachers, managerial structure, and a catalog of preferred texts and vendors for the recommended curriculum.
The local press for the initiative offers none of this information. Relatively few people seem to be aware of the comfy commercialization of “education services” marketed by Johns Hopkins School of Education and in this case, enabled by the Louisiana Department of Education.
What happens if the LB Landry – OP Walker College & Career Preparatory High School fails and is not reauthorized to open again?
Will the Johns Hopkins School of Education, selected as if the intended “savior” of this high school have any liability?
Will the Louisiana Department of Education?
Answer to the question- no accountability.
University name and staff confer legitimacy.
Unfortunately, the public has a false perception about private universities, their academic integrity, etc.
Public university faculty who pick up tax-funded paychecks while serving outside interests are far worse because their’s is a betrayal of public trust.
This kind of closure of a “failing enterprise” is a feature of the commodification of schools. And here’s a sad consequence of the marketplace paradigm: As long as those living in affluence do not have to worry about the impact of the marketplace on their neighborhood schools and as long as they have a wide range of choices when it comes to buying food, clothing and shelter, they can buy into the idea that EVERYONE has that same array of choices and, therefore, endorse the notion that “choice” is a fair means of leveling the playing field.
Schools and public services cannot be commodified… for when they are, the inequities that exist in options for housing, food, and shopping will occur in those services. I encourage anyone who lives in affluence to explore the “choices” in grocery stores available to those living in poverty and stand by the belief that the “invisible hand” of the marketplace operates equitably.