Behind The Lens episode 39: ‘That’s where the district wants to go’

A special all-schools episode. Host and producer Jessica Rosgaard talks to education researcher Doug Harris about New Orleans becoming an all-charter city. And we hear from the lawyer for a family suing John F. Kennedy High School.

This week on Behind The Lens:

As of July 1st, New Orleans is an all-charter school district. The historic McDonough 35 High School was the last to convert to charter, and will be run by the nonprofit Inspire NOLA. We’ll talk with Doug Harris, Director of the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, about the state of education in the city.

Also, more than half of John F. Kennedy High School’s seniors were ineligible to graduate, according to an audit of student transcripts done after allegations of grade inflation were brought against the school. The parent of a Kennedy senior is suing the school for mismanagement, as the fallout over improper record keeping and alleged grade inflation continues. We’ll talk to Suzette Bagneris, the attorney who filed the lawsuit.

Behind The Lens is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher.