As New Orleans restarts its schools, most are now charter schools

An article about charter schools in New Orleans.  No surprise that the old guard is trying to excuse their chronic, catastrophic failures -- and playing the race card:

Jackie Cockerham, a 32-year veteran of New Orleans schools, is one of  thousands "still hurting" from the mass pink-slipping of teachers after the  storm. They argue that their schools were, in fact, not the worst in the  state, and were held to different and often arbitrary standards. After the  storm, says Ms. Cockerham, New Orleans' black teachers were the victims of an  ideological drive by elitist – and mostly white – pro-charter advocates who  now control the central office.

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As New Orleans restarts its schools, most are now charter schools
Since hurricane Katrina, the city has been determined to reform one of the nation's worst school districts.
By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
September 4, 2007

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0904/p01s08-ussc.html

NEW ORLEANS - In three New Orleans neighborhoods, young teachers and administrators at charter schools are preparing with haste for the doors to swing open Tuesday.
In the diverse community of Algiers, rookie principal Meredith Summerville relishes a daunting directive: In one week, open a school.