The PBS program NOW [ transrcipt ] shows the reopening of Lafayette Academy in post Katrina New Orleans. It is one of the new charter schools that is comprising 60% of the schools reopening at this time. I was first excited to hear the news as I believe that charter schools are a possible hope for the future. So many districts suffer from bureaucratic waste these days and corruption.
After watching the show I was disheartened. They already have the challenge of students living in trailers and having missed so much schooling. Now they suffer from the same tragedy that took so many lives in the disaster-- poor planning. On the first day of school there were no books. In October, they were still waiting for books. Finally, in November, most of the books arrived. Is the federal government trying to set them up as an example of how charter schools will not work?
The site has two videos, the first is the program and the second is a supplemental experience of one student. What can we as a nation do to turn this experiment around? Perhaps we failed New Orleans in the disaster. Perhaps it is taking too long to rebuild the homes. But can we help rebuild the hope of these children?
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