logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Nonprofit Newswire | After Katrina, Charter Schools See Opportunity in New Orleans

Rick Cohen
September 3, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

August 26, 2010; Source: Newsweek | From the outset, it was clear that groups of various ideological hues were going to use the devastation of New Orleans as a petri dish for testing and boosting ideas that might not be possible to implement at a large scale nationally, but could be plopped into post-Katrina New Orleans in the hope that something, anything might work. The most obvious example is the shift of New Orleans from traditional schools to charter schools.

Pre-Katrina, there was one charter school in the city. Last year, more than 60 percent of public school students in the city attended privately run charter schools. The outgoing schools superintendent, obviously a fan of charter schools, called Katrina “an opportunity to build . . . a new school system” based on the model of an “overwhelmingly publicly funded, predominantly privately run school system.”

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Nine more schools have switched to charter status this year, which will boost the proportion of charter school pupils even higher. Charter schools outnumber “traditional” schools two-to-one. The charter operators range from the well-known national groups such as KIPP to locally created charters such as SciAcademy. As free-wheeling as they have been, the charters are facing problems with facilities financing, accountability, and operating costs.

Like typical nonprofits in a recession, there is even now a move toward consolidating some of the charters or getting them to share specific consolidated back office and support functions. The city has been operating in something of a crisis mode, trying almost anything in housing, health care, and education to replace the systems that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. As New Orleans begins to return to post-disaster normalcy, how much will the city’s leaders reign in and regularize what now seems to be systems and institutions that operate relatively unfettered.—Rick Cohen

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
NLRB Board Demands Refunding to Meet the Rise in Unionization
Rithika Ramamurthy
It Takes Commitment: Management as Sharing Power and Participation
Yarissa Soriano
Building Tenant Power: A Growing Movement Rises in Baltimore
anneke dunbar-gronke
Housing Justice Leaders Assess How to Build Power for the Long Haul
Steve Dubb
Measuring Is an Act of Power: A Call for Pro-Black Measurement and Evaluation
Angela Romans, Candace Stanciel and Titilola Harley
Losing Forward: Lessons from Organizing for Narrative Change
Jung Hee Choi and Joseph Phelan

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.