Ten days into the school term whenHurricane KatrinaIt traveled along the Gulf Coast and hit New Orleans. On Monday, August 29, 2005, the storm surge caused significant levees to fail, submerging the city. Very few schools remained undamaged.
As they considered the path to rebuilding, leaders in New Orleans understood that residents would not return without schools for their children. However, the district — at that time the nation’s 50th largest —thbiggest, enrolling 60,000 students — was at a turning point. Official corruption was so widespread that the FBI had established an office at the district headquarters.
A constant turnover of leaders — theWashington Postnamed it a “murderer’s row for superintendents” — had failed to improve some of the country’s most challenging educational results. Louisiana’s legislative auditor referred to it as a “train wreck,” noting that no one was aware of how much money the district possessed.
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As for what should come next, no concept was considered too extreme, the interim superintendent at the time, Ora Watson,told PBS.
Certainly. Here’s a rephrased version of the text: Truly radical. In the years that came after, New Orleans transformed into the nation’s sole nearly entirely charter school system. Those from outside eager to try out their education reform concepts rushed in to impact the experiment. School administrators embraced the most effective innovations and worked together to develop answers to the most challenging problems.
It was the quickest and most intense effort to improve a school in U.S. history — but one that had significant racial and cultural consequences. Now, on the 20ththe anniversary of the storm, the schools’ current and former leaders — and we at The 74 — are reflecting on the situation.
To recount the tale of New Orleans’ remarkable recovery, we are highlighting six important data points, based onresearchThe Education Research Alliance for New Orleans at Tulane University; the Brookings Institution; The Data Center in Southeast Louisiana; and local school system leaders. They include: academic achievement, graduation rates and college enrollment; significant changes in the teacher workforce demographics; developments resulting from a centralized student enrollment system; college attendance and retention; the quantity of publicly funded preschool spots; and the advantages of — as well as the continued opposition to — closing poorly performing schools.
1. Student test results, graduation rates, and college enrollment increased rapidly — but primarily reached their highest point in 2015
Two years prior to Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana legislators approved the establishment of a state-managed Recovery School District, designed to assume control and improve consistently underperforming schools. It had already taken over five New Orleans schools and transformed them into charter schools.
In the fall of 2005, acknowledging the extraordinary scale of the reconstruction required in New Orleans, the state legislature broadened the Recovery School District’s powers. The organization assumed control of 102 out of the 126 schools managed by the Orleans Parish School Board. Among the remaining schools that had recoverable buildings, the district converted some into charter schools and maintained oversight of five.
The schools that the district continued to manage on its own were not subject to the takeover law, as they maintained strong academic performance—primarily due to their use of entrance exams and other selection methods that resulted in a majority of students coming from affluent and white backgrounds.
Prominent figures in the education reform movement quickly seized the opportunity to contribute to a complete reimagining of the school system. Over the following decade, the state created a framework that—when accounting for demographics and other factors—is recognized for significant improvements in academic achievement.
From 2005 to 2015, improvements in math and reading skills ranged from 11 to 16 percentage points, varying by subject and analysis method, helping raise the city’s schools from 67thto the state of 40th.
High school graduation rates increased by 3 to 9 percentage points, while college enrollment and graduation rates went up by 8 to 15 and 3 to 5 points, respectively.
A significant portion of this advancement is attributed to the performance agreements that charter schools must adhere to. Schools that fail to achieve their objectives for multiple years risk losing their charters, which are then awarded to successful operators.
Overall, in state report cards, the school system improved from an F to a C during the first decade. But as Katrina’s 10thThe anniversary drew near, and the community’s frustrations over the state’s takeover reached a boiling point.
Numerous key figures behind the large-scale experiment were white and came from outside the city. Discussions regarding critical issues like school shutdowns occurred in the state capital, Baton Rouge, which made public meetings difficult for New Orleans residents to attend. Although some successful schools did not specifically select their students, too many children were unable to access A- and B-rated schools.
Amid growing political pressure to terminate the state’s control, leaders of the city’s charter school networks explored ways to address some of the most challenging barriers to merging all schools into one district governed by an elected board. Key to this effort was striving to make enrollment, discipline, and funding—systems that had previously kept low-income Black children isolated in underfunded schools—far more fair and balanced.
Louisiana Opens a New Chapter: 11 Years Following Katrina, New Orleans Schools Prepare to Revert to Local Management
Enrollment changes were already in progress. However, funding appeared to be a potential obstacle.
Due to Louisiana’s historical practice of providing additional funding to schools for students recognized as gifted, while offering insufficient support for children with disabilities and those from low-income backgrounds, institutions serving predominantly affluent students received more financial resources than those serving disadvantaged populations.
In 2016, the state revised the formula to ensure more equitable per-student funding for children with disabilities and those living in poverty.
(NOLA Public Schools has since modified its financial system to provide schools with increased funding to support services for a variety of disadvantaged students, such as those involved in the criminal justice system, homeless children, and refugees. It is now regarded as one of the most fair weighted student funding systems in the nation.)
Locally developed policies in effect, in May 2016, the Louisiana legislature enacted Act 91, which mandates the Recovery School District to returnmanagement of all 82 public schoolsBy July 2018, the Orleans Parish School Board was involved. The law makes the publicly elected board accountable for deciding when to open or close schools based on specific guidelines. The schools’ ability to make choices regarding staff, curriculum, and the duration of the school day is protected by state legislation.
Hurricane Katrina
20 Years of Transformation in New Orleans Educational Institutions
2. A fresh, extremely young, and predominantly white teaching staff
One of the longest-standing, unfavorable stories regarding the school changes after Hurricane Katrina is the claim that white outsiders dismissed the city’s predominantly Black, experienced teachers and hired a group of inexperienced, mostly white individuals from Teach For America and other comparable training initiatives.
The real timeline is more intricate — and logical. However, it is true that children are more likely to thrive when theirteachers look like them, New Orleans has a lower number of experienced, certified, and Black teachers compared to 2005.
During the flood, the district was close to financial collapse and dealing with federal corruption investigations, while state officials failed to provide additional assistance to help retain teachers — almost all of whom were evacuees — on the payroll. In September 2005, the Orleans Parish School Board put all staff on unpaid disaster leave, allowing them to qualify for unemployment benefits.
In March 2006, as most schools remained shut, the district dismissed all of its teaching staff. One-third were eligible for retirement.
As per a 2017 study released by Tulane’s Education Research Alliance for New Orleans,4,332 teachers were dismissedFollowing the storm, by fall 2007, half had gone back to work in Louisiana’s public schools. A third were employed in New Orleans. By fall 2013, only 22% of those who had been laid off after the flood were teaching within the city’s schools.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, 71% of the city’s public school educators were Black. This percentage dropped to 49% in 2014 but increased to 60% by 2022, even though 70% of the students are Black. In 2005, 67% of local teachers had over five years of experience. By 2022, this figure had decreased to 51%.
Regarding the arrival of young white teachers, Teach For America had been sending a limited number of new educators to New Orleans schools for 15 years prior to the storm. Following the event, the numbers significantly increased. Between 2009 and 2019, at least 20% of the city’s public school teachers were graduates of alternative certification programs. The intensity of teaching during those initial 10 years became unmanageable, with many educators reporting burnout in surveys that examined reasons for higher turnover rates.
Currently, educators express varied opinions about the improvements and declines in different areas of their job since Hurricane Katrina. However, a survey of students in grades 6 through 12 shows that they are much less likely to believe their teachers care about them compared to students across the country.
In recent years, NOLA Public Schools and the nearby Jefferson Parish Schools have each required an astonishing 500 new teachers annually — a hiring goal that is extremely difficult to reach through conventional methods.
The amount of new teachers that Teach For America has assigned to schools in New Orleans has decreased to between 30 and 40 annually, according to Jahquille Ross, the talent chief for New Schools for New Orleans, the district’s nonprofit policy collaborator. A training initiative run by TNTP (previously called The New Teacher Project), teachNOLA produces 80 to 100 new educators each year.
A former second-grade educator, Ross leads a significant initiative aimed at closing the skills gap.
Ross was in the eighth grade when Hurricane Katrina forced his family to leave, initially moving to Alexandria, Louisiana, and eventually to Texas. Because of this, during the 2005-06 school year, he attended three different schools. In New Orleans, most of Ross’ teachers and classmates were Black—this was not the situation at his temporary schools.
When Ross came back to New Orleans, he started attending Edna Karr High School, a school that was highly regarded as a symbol of Black achievement. It is one of several schools recognized for educating multiple generations within the same families, where students often develop long-term connections with the same teachers and later return to join the city’s very involved alumni groups.
A top academic student before the storm, Ross found it challenging to meet his own high expectations as his family relocated frequently. At Edna Karr, Ross was taught by Jamar McKneely, who is now the CEO of the successful school network Inspire NOLA.
McKneely, Ross recalls, “poured it into me,” solidifying his ambition to pursue a career in teaching from a young age. During his studies at Tuskegee University, he contacted his mentor to inquire about a student-teaching opportunity. McKneely arranged for him to work at Inspire’s Alice Harte Charter School.
He said, ‘Of course you can come,’ ” Ross says. “But one thing: When you finish college, I want you to come and teach at Alice Harte.
Ross didn’t require much persuasion. “I think about the amount of trauma I faced on a daily basis and reflecting on my own childhood,” he says. “I wanted students who resemble me to see themselves at an earlier age.”
In the past few years, Ross has contributed to the creation ofthree major initiativesA $14 million initiative aimed at strengthening teacher and principal recruitment and retention across six school networks; an $8 million program that provides a living-wage stipend to trainees at Southern University at New Orleans; and teacher preparation programs at Tulane, teachNOLA, Xavier, and Reach universities.
The third initiative has proven to be the most successful. During its first two years, the $10 million program surpassed its targets, attracting 125 and 231 new teachers, respectively. Two-thirds of them were teachers of color. The third year, 2025, showed similar positive results—until the Trump administration terminated the program’s federal grant funding in February. The impact is severe, according to Ross.
It forces many organizations and schools to address a significant financial shortfall for the rest of the year,” he states. “Furthermore, our teachers are impacted the most. With stipends for mentor teachers or tuition waivers [or] reductions, it leaves many questioning where they will find the funds to keep their educational programs going.
Ross has also played a key role in developing “grow your own” initiatives that start preparing future teachers while they are still attending high school. We featureone such effort here.
3. The OneApp solution
Prior to the state returning control of the schools to a potentially politically vulnerable elected school board, New Orleans’ school administrators came together and, despite competition, worked out resolutions for some of their most divisive, system-wide challenges. Along with the initiative to create fairer school funding, many school leaders aimed to improve equity in enrollment and discipline.
Schools that performed well but were not acquired by the Recovery School District had previously utilized entrance exams and other selection methods to carefully choose their students. For instance, one school prioritizes the children of Tulane staff, while others give priority to students who have siblings already enrolled.
They were significantly more affluent and had a higher proportion of students from wealthier backgrounds compared to the rest of the city’s public schools. Only 3% of students in these selective-enrollment institutions had disabilities.
With regard to schools managed by the state, the shift to a fully charter-based system after the storm initially led to a chaotic environment for families. Each school made decisions — frequently without clear guidelines or justification — about accepting students who arrived wanting to enroll, and whether a student had too many difficulties, including an individualized education plan. Parents were compelled to travel throughout the city, pleading for a spot that their child might not even be able to maintain.
In the initial years, the rate of expulsions in the city’s non-exclusive schools increased threefold. In 2012, acknowledging that access to education is a fundamental civil right, the Recovery School District removed schools’ authority to expel students and required an agency staff member to examine every proposed effort to remove a child. Expulsions dropped rapidly.
At the same time, the Recovery School District introduced a digital enrollment system that enabled families to select their preferred schools and, in theory, be paired with one.
Initially called OneApp, the system was promoted as a method to assist low-income familiesan equal chance for a seatin the most sought-after schools. However, in reality, it did not meet expectations. Numerous schools were reluctant to participate, including all the selective enrollment programs.
As the 2016 deadline for returning all schools to the Orleans Parish School Board drew near, a compromise—disappointing many of the state takeover’s original supporters—was reached. Selective-enrollment schools approved by the district could maintain their selection processes but would need to join the system or risk losing their charters. This was a weak warning, as high-achieving schools typically only go through renewal every 10 years, but following the return to local authority, expulsions continued to decrease. At the same time, the number of students with disabilities attending school increased steadily—due in part to the system and also because the schools were under a court order from a 2010 lawsuit.
Racial enrollment imbalances still exist, however.A 2023 Tulane reportdiscovered that during the 2017-18 enrollment matching process, Black applicants had a 9% lower chance of securing a spot at their top-choice school compared to white applicants who applied for the same placement.
Low-income candidates had a 6% lower chance of receiving their preferred option. Black applicants faced significant challenges in obtaining a favorable kindergarten placement, as they were less likely to satisfy the requirements for location-based or family-related preferences.
In 2019, the district implemented a policy that provided a lottery advantage to applicants residing within a half-mile of a school, effectively influencing enrollment at the top-performing schools.further out of reachfor numerous individuals. During the 2019-20 enrollment period, 65% of applicants residing within these zones were accepted into high-demand schools, compared to 28% for all applicants.
4. From 60th to 6th
In 2005, the schools in New Orleans were ranked 60ththAmong Louisiana’s 68 districts, in terms of college enrollment rates. By 2023, it had risen to sixth place. As academic performance improved, so did students’ preparedness for college — and their capacity to benefit from an exceptionally robust state scholarship program for those who opt to attend a Louisiana college or university.
However, school administrators quickly realized that gaining entry to college often does not guarantee a student will actually attend classes on campus — let alone complete their degree — in a new setting that may be far from home.
As one of the city’s most effective charter school networks, Collegiate Academies has frequently been called upon by the school system’s advocates to create approaches for bridging gaps in meeting students’ requirements. The educators at Collegiate have consistently excelled at getting involved and tackling issues as they arise.
Early college retention rates were poor, however. Collegiate’s first school, Sci Academy, welcomed its initial group of ninth graders in 2008. By the time they graduated, 97% of the class had been accepted into a four-year college or university. However, between 2012 and 2018, only 15% of the network’s graduates had obtained a degree within six years or less.
Young people in New Orleans experience some of the highest rates of PTSD in the nation, yet many did not receive the essential mental health support available at college. Feeling isolated and unhappy, they left school at concerning rates.
Scholarships and Personal Well-being: The New Orleans Charter School Network Equips Graduates for College with a Mental Health Support System
Over time, the network’s teachers have learned how to help students prepare for entrance exams, enhance their application documents — frequently gathering in the evenings at cafes — and assemble complete scholarship packages.
While reviewing internal data, the Collegiate team discovered that alumni frequently enrolled in underperforming community colleges and other programs that failed to assist them in transitioning to a four-year institution. The school network created a structured college retention initiative and started enrolling graduates in cohorts.at the most open-minded institutions.
In early 2020, despite the impact of COVID causing school closures, Collegiate was among two charter networks that introduced a program later called Next Level Nola. Students who graduated from any high school in the city and didn’t have sufficient admission scores or academic records to gain entry into a competitive college could enroll in a 14-week program.th “bridge” year.
In the free program, young people had the opportunity to improve their ACT or SAT scores while obtaining an entry-level career certification to maintain their future options. Last year, participants in Next Level Nola earned six associate degrees and nine business operations certificates — indicating that 88% completed the program with a credential.
The overall six-year college graduation rate at Collegiate remains low, standing at 18% — however, this is higher than the national average of 11% for students from the lowest-income backgrounds, as per the school’s review of U.S. Census information. More encouragingly, 78% of graduates come back for their second year of college.
A major change Collegiate has implemented is sending graduates to “match” schools—colleges that offer greater support, focus on graduation rates, link alumni with possible employers, and maintain low tuition costs.
“It’s completely transformative for students heading to college in New Orleans,” says Rhonda Dale, chief of staff at Collegiate.
Former students of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette have shown remarkable success at the university’sLouisiana Educate Program, which offers strong academic and social guidance. The program is still new and does not have a six-year graduation rate yet, but 94% of Collegiate graduates re-enroll for a second year.
Over half have either obtained a bachelor’s degree or are on course to earn one. This stands in comparison to the state-wide public college graduation rate for Black students, which is 35%.
It’s still not sufficient, according to Dale: “Over the past few years, we’ve come to understand that additional actions are necessary to ensure that students [graduate the Louisiana Educate Program] with their ‘first good job.’ Therefore, we have made a genuine effort to guarantee that LEP students participate in summer internships related to their major, giving them practical experience and insight into potential career paths.”
5. Fewer pre-K seats
The establishment of the all-charter school system led to a decrease in access to early childhood education. In 2005, public elementary schools in Orleans Parish provided almost 70 pre-K spots for every 100 kindergartners. Now, that number has dropped below 50 per 100.
Charter operators were not obligated to provide preschool services, and state funding covered only a limited number of spots at each school. To make a preschool classroom financially viable, a school—within a severely underfunded system—would have to locate families who could afford to pay tuition.
Additionally, the district’s accountability system emphasizes performance in grades 3 through 8, meaning charter school administrators lack motivation to provide pre-K programs.
Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and various other charitable, government, and community groups, the New Orleans Early Education Network has aimed to expand the availability of pre-K spots.
How Educare Is Bridging the Achievement Gap in New Orleans by Initiating Early Education from Birth
6. Shutting down underperforming schools was the main factor behind most of the system’s progress — yet it continues to be highly disliked
One of the most significant data sets highlighting the ongoing academic progress in the New Orleans educational system is also the most persistently debated. According to Act 91, charters of consistently underperforming schools are terminated and handed over to new, successful operators.
This procedure,” the Tulane researchers monitoring the system’s development state clearly, “has been responsible for all the advancements following Hurricane Katrina.
largely due to the fact that, unlike in other districts, state laws and local policies are intended to guarantee studentsend up in more effective classroomsthan the ones they have no choice but to abandon.
However, shutting down a school—despite its failure to prepare multiple generations to escape poverty—is extremely unpopular. Nowhere is this more evident than in Orleans Parish, where school communities are deeply connected to the city’s history, and their legacies are honored at every chance by alumni groups.
The return of schools to a local board was intended tobring this decision-makingcloser to those most affected. To truly offer a space where families cango to be heard by their elected representatives.
In reality, even if a school’s declining performance has been addressed in public meetings for multiple years in a row,there is community outcrywhen the principal suggests closing the school to the board, parents frequently fail to grasp how much their children may be lagging academically, or how unstable the school’s financial situation is.
Families affected by school closures are meant to receive priority in the universal enrollment system for admission to higher-quality schools. Additionally, a nonprofit organization named EdNavigator offers assistance to parents in understanding their choices and addressing issues ranging from a child’s specific support requirements to transportation needs.
But the closures keep facing challenges due to weak communication from the district. During the 2023-24 school year, then-Superintendent Avis Williams fluctuated on the future ofF-rated Lafayette AcademyCharter School. Usually, its charter would have been granted to a more successful network, along with its historical and newly restored building.
With the Launch of a New School, New Orleans Is No Longer an All-Charter District
After a series of miscommunications and reversed decisions, Williams gave in to pressure from a board member who had consistently criticized the all-charter system as “a failed experiment” and stated the district would establish and operate a traditional program, the Leah Chase School.
Even with inquiries from the city’s school administrators and others, district officials did not specify if the new, non-charter school would be responsible for student results — let alone if other consistently low-performing charter schools could avoid being shut down by requesting to transition into a regular school.
From 2012 to 2020, John White served as Louisiana’s education superintendent and was among the key figures behind the autonomy-for-accountability agreement that lies at the core of the state’s unique school system. He notes that a readiness to have difficult discussions is embedded in the system’s foundation.
“Recognizing areas of difficulty is part of the process,” he states.
Yet, similarly, understanding what is achievable when a community is open to having difficult discussions.
New Orleans’s education system has been steadily working to secure a fundamental civil right: ensuring that, with reasonable effort, every child can read, write, perform math, and build friendships in the city’s schools,” says White. “In most respects, New Orleans is faring better today in this regard than it did 20 years ago. In 20 years, New Orleans will be much closer to fulfilling this promise.
Graphics by Meghan Gallagher/The 74
