If I Was There

If I was in New Orleans today, I’d go to the Orleans Parish School Board meeting scheduled for this evening. One of the first items on the agenda is “Consideration of establishment Of Charter Schools on the West Bank (Algiers) of Orleans Parish by Algiers Charter Schools Association.”

That directly affects us, because Xy’s school is one of those in Algiers which might become a charter. If so, Xy could have her old job back. If not, then who knows.

I don’t know how I feel about charter schools in general, but I’m pretty certain this would be a good move for New Orleans Public Schools. In fact, it looks as though there’s a movement afoot to make all of NOPS into charter schools. I see Treme Charter Schools Association, Ben Franklin High School, Audubon Montessori, Priestly, New Orleans Math & Science are next on the meeting agenda for charter consideration.

This might be the end of NOPS as we know it. Given the massive problems at NOPS, I’m not sure that would be a bad thing. Any move that dismantles beauracracy and creates more local control is in line with my values.

And everybody seems to acknowledge that good schools are key to any city’s success.

If I was in New Orleans, tomorrow I’d help clean up Canal Street. I helped clean up Magazine two weeks ago, and that was a fairly positive experience. I was looking forward to helping clean up Canal, which runs about a block from our house, but I had no idea it would happen so soon.

Of course I’d have to stop by the NOLA Bookfair afterwards.

But I’m not in New Orleans. I’m 860 miles away in Bloomington, Indiana. So if you’re there and you’re reading this, maybe you can go in my place.