Let’s hope that ‘A’ stands for ‘accountability’ as the new school year begins
15th August 2022 · 0 Comments
Visions of eager children wearing new school clothes with new school supplies can be seen on New Orleans sidewalks. Some arrive by school bus; others are being dropped off by parents or relatives. Seeing our children going to be educated is a welcomed, heartwarming sight.
But given the uptick in juvenile crime and the lack of transparency in Orleans Parish schools, it’s hard to maintain confidence that our children are in good hands and are receiving the best education possible.
Each new school year offers Orleans Parish charter school CEOs and teachers the opportunity to shepherd students toward bright, successful futures. However, parents, guardians, and other stakeholders can only hope this school year will result in more graduations, higher test scores, and well-adjusted students.
There were bills to allow students to opt-out of school if they are not reading on grade level or if they are bullied in school, Education Savings Accounts for parents of public school students that allow them to use state dollars to fund their education in another setting – private schools, special tutoring, homeschooling, etc., raises for certified teachers and non-certified staff—more money for early childhood education and higher education, and expanded opportunities for public school students to have access to computer science education, among other legislative actions to improve educational opportunities for Louisiana students, according to The Council for a Better Louisiana.
The Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) called the 2022 legislative session a good one for Louisiana education. “…It was a big one for public education at all levels, especially when it comes to new investments in students and educators,” the non-profit government watchdog said.
CABL, started in 1962 by business people, weighs in on public policy, education, tax reform, and politics. It’s more like a non-profit lobbying entity. CABL supports charter schools, non-public school scholarships, and other education options.
The organization supports “A variety of high-quality school options for parents that include charter schools, non-public school scholarships, course choice, dual enrollment, and opportunities to learn skills or take advanced courses in high school.”
While most former public schools in Orleans Parish are now charter schools, one grassroots organization is fighting to have ACT 91 overturned. Passed by the Louisiana Legislature, ACT 91 lacks oversight or accountability from the duly elected Orleans Parish School Board.
Let that sink in for a moment. We have a former public school system that is now a faux public school system, aka charter school district, publicly funded, that elected school board members, chosen by voters to represent their education interests, have no control over.
ACT 91, which allegedly returned the charter schools to the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) from the control of the defunct Recovery School District in 2018, ensured that the Board nor parents, nor stakeholders have no way to hold charter schools accountable.
Under ACT 91:
“Unless mutually agreed to by both the charter school’s governing authority and the local school board…the local school board shall not impede the operational autonomy of a charter school under its jurisdiction in the areas of school programming, instruction, curriculum, materials, and texts, yearly school calendars, and daily schedules, hiring and firing of personnel, employee performance management and evaluation, terms and conditions of employment, teacher or administrator certification, salaries and benefits, retirement, collective bargaining, budgeting, purchasing, procurement, and contracting for services other than capital repairs and facilities construction.”
The OPSB can only decide to renew a charter contract or close a school based on certain circumstances. This step doesn’t happen until it’s time for a charter to be renewed. Also, closing a school or non-renewal of a charter contract requires a super-majority or a two-third Board vote. This also doesn’t apply to charter schools controlled by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, like NOCCA.
So, the question is one of accountability. While CABL is on record supporting “an accountability system that is meaningful, transparent and focused on improving student outcomes,” there is little evidence that the organization has stood against the lack of a centralized accountability system in Orleans Parish’s publicly funded charter school.
However, some parents and New Orleanians are not in favor of charter schools. The Erase The Board Coalition’s (ETBC) mission is to “elect School Board members who will follow the Louisiana Constitution which requires them to directly run and govern schools.”
According to Erase The Board Coalition (ETBC), the implementation of the whole charter school system in Orleans Parish is an illegal experiment carried out on New Orleans students without their parent’s permission.
Responding to the ETBC’s criticism, the Orleans Parish School Board told a Big Easy Magazine reporter that the Board continues “to work with the community to ensure that every student receives a high-quality education that fosters his or her individual capabilities while ensuring that they thrive and are prepared for civic, social, and economic success.”
Nothing in that statement spoke to the need for accountability and the ETBC’s demand that the elected school board governs the schools.
Louisiana legislators deserve much credit for trying to legislate Louisiana out of the 50th ranking in education quality posted by WalletHub but throwing money at the problem alone won’t improve the state’s nationwide educational standing.
Holding school operators accountable for poor test scores and school performance scores will. We suggest that it’s not wise to let the fox guard the hen house or to allow schools to provide oversight of themselves.
What is needed is what the new superintendent Avis Williams suggested recently, “centralized accountability.” Hopefully, she can set up such a system.
Also needed is an investigation into why charter school CEOs are paid so much compared to per pupil allocation. According to an ETBC report in 2019, 20 charter school CEOs earned combined salaries totaling $4.2 million:
“There are 18 other CEOs not included in this number. $4.2 MILLION DOLLARS on 20 people.”
There should also be an investigation into per-pupil funding allocations. How much is actually spent on each student? The state’s average per-pupil allotment is $11,669. However, that number can range as high as $20,000 depending on what the Local Education Authority (LEA), aka charter school, allocates. The Advertiser reports that in Louisiana, school spending on each pupil varies from $7,627 to $52,258 — and that’s not counting charters or schools with special programs.
The Louisiana Weekly has not independently verified the quoted reports but given information that has been published, this newspaper supports further investigations by impartial entities and consultation by unbiased educators who lead award-winning school districts.
New Orleans children deserve the best education available, and those responsible for providing it must be held accountable.
This article originally published in the August 15, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
