U.S. Gives Charter Schools A Big Push in New Orleans

I missed this news last month. New Orleans right now is one of the most innovate education experiments ever conducted.
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U.S. Gives Charter Schools A Big Push in New Orleans

By SUSAN SAULNY (NYT) 619 words
Published: June 13, 2006

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FA0E11FA38550C708DDDAF0894DE404482

NEW ORLEANS, June 12 - Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Monday that $24 million in federal aid had been awarded to Louisiana for the development of charter schools, more than doubling what the state has already received to help create such schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The grant is likely to cement the role of New Orleans -- where the public school system is barely functional -- as the nation's pre-eminent laboratory for the widespread use of charter schools. The schools are paid for with public money but are usually operated by nonprofit groups or parent organizations.

There are at least 45 charter schools in Louisiana, with most having opened since Hurricane Katrina. The highest concentration is in New Orleans, where the school system is now dominated by charter operators. Eighteen of the 25 schools open in New Orleans are charter schools, receiving public financing but operating independently.

With the arrival of so many charter schools so quickly, a majority of the city's students will be part of the experiment, whether they want to be or not, because the number of traditional public schools has dwindled to seven...