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By Andrew Vanacore
The Times-Picayune
September 27, 2011

The Louisiana Department of Education will lay out a plan for keeping a closer eye on independent charter schools today that includes restructuring the department’s charter office, an increase in funding and more clearly defined roles for the different state officials involved in the job. Department officials, who will unveil the plan at a meeting of the state board of education today, are calling the strategy “preliminary” and saying it could still evolve based on an external review. They will need board approval for certain aspects, but they expect much of the new strategy to fall within the framework of existing board policy and state law.

The plan reflects heightened criticism aimed at the department since revelations earlier this year about teacher complaints filed against Abramson Science and Technology Charter School in eastern New Orleans. After numerous allegations came to light in July, including accusations of cheating on science fair competitions and a lack of proper supervision for students, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education revoked the school’s charter. But the fact that more than a year elapsed between the original complaints and final action by the board gave ammunition to those who have questioned the state’s ability to keep a close enough eye on charter schools.

In response, acting state Superintendent Ollie Tyler last month promised a comprehensive investigation into how the department handles oversight of charters, which enjoy greater autonomy than their traditional counterparts.

State officials have already said they plan to shift responsibility for charter supervision in New Orleans to the state-run Recovery School District, where New Orleans-based staff will conduct annual reviews at every school.

Officials from both the RSD and the department of education in Baton Rouge worked on the report that BESE will get today, which lays out numerous steps

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New Orleans, Louisiana’s (NOLA) education establishment has mounted a fight they hope carries hurricane force winds to the Big Easy, knocking out the careful and successful repair work of the state’s — and perhaps the south’s — worst school system. That system lost everything in the tragic hurricane of 2005, but from the ashes emerged a fresh start for schools, including no interference by a power-hungry school board and unions, as well as relief from tenure and seniority issues that protect jobs often at the expense of kids.

Next month’s elections will decide the fate of 11 positions on the state board of education. Unlike most states, their job is not only to pick a state superintendent who can advocate for or against reforms like the charter schools that gave NOLA a fresh start or the path-breaking voucher program that now helps thousands with private education, but also pick a leader who can turn around the state’s most troubled schools. This board and the state super have authority over the Recovery District, and that is why this is such a hot race.

Teacher unions have banded together with the Coalition for Louisiana Public Education to try to return NOLA to a pre-Katrina structure. It’s a pity they still don’t get it. Get involved and publicize the importance of reform-minded candidates to your friends or colleagues in the Bayou. For more information on New Orleans schools, visit: http://educatenow.net/ or http://newschoolsforneworleans.org/index.php.