It's great to see Steve Barr engaging in New Orleans:

Steve Barr, who describes himself as a "basketball freak," stands taller than 6 feet and talks urgently in sports metaphors. The one on his mind now has to do with John McDonogh High School on Esplanade Avenue.

Barr's new nonprofit group, Future Is Now Schools, will begin converting the struggling campus into a charter school this summer, and job No. 1 is figuring out how to get his starting lineup in place under the salary cap.

Drawing X's on a chalkboard in a small, dingy office on McDonogh's second floor, Barr says, "Here are the big, high-priced free agents. Math, science, English and reading."

The goal is to find all-stars to teach these subjects and pay them 25 percent more than a traditional public school would, say $70,000 or so.

To Barr, the real problem -- or at least the one he can address -- is not that students at John McDonogh live in poverty, though almost all of them come from families that qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch. Nor is it that they struggle with difficult circumstances at home. Barr grew up without a father and once spent a year with his brother in foster care.

To Barr, what these students need is a team of teachers, aided by top-notch coaching, who will dazzle on the court.

"These kids are just lights-out bored," Barr insisted. "I mean these kids get it. Their 'B.S.' meter is so finely tuned. When you're a teenager you know when someone's talking down to you. You know when someone's mailing it in. You know when a teacher's not prepared."

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