Law firm will investigate grade changes at Kennedy High School and allegations that CEO falsified board records related to a lucrative bus contract.
Posted inSchools
School district delays lead water filter installation at French Quarter school
Orleans district promised Monday installation at Plessy after a test performed by a student found possible contaminants. But the filters won’t work properly without booster pumps. The district says about 16 schools need the pumps.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Racist police violence: two very different cities with something in common
Shameful record of torture and killings by cops here and in Chicago
Posted inInside the News Room
Week in Review: How have the City Council’s utility consultants kept their contracts for so long?
In 1985, New Orleans residents decided that New Orleans Public Service Inc. — now called Entergy New Orleans — should be regulated by the City Council rather than the state’s Public Service Commission, which had overseen the utility for the three previous years. Ever since, the council has relied almost entirely on a group of […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 25: Little red marks
Reporter Marta Jewson tells us how she uncovered allegations of grade inflation at Kennedy High School. Michael Isaac Stein talks about political patronage in lucrative City Council utility contracts. And Tom Wright follows up on his recent story on wastewater assimilation.
Posted inSchools
New Orleans 7th grader’s lead test results prompt district to speed up filter installation at French Quarter school
The district’s pledge to install filters in all schools has been delayed several times.
Posted inSchools
Parent says Bricolage Academy’s new aftercare policies exclude special education students
The charter school’s board gave Bricolage’s CEO an April 15 deadline for a report on special education services. A lawyer says schools must include children with disabilities in after-school programs.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Political connections, contributions helped utility consultants keep lucrative contracts for decades, former council members say
New Orleans City Council members have come and gone over the past three decades. But a group of consultants who help them regulate Entergy, and charge millions per year, have remained remarkably consistent.
Posted inSchools
Orleans school district continuing to look into Kennedy grade changes
The district previously found no evidence of wrongdoing. But officials have received new information prompting them to take another look.
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Student testing for the 21st century: finding alternatives to forced choice
Better options are out there, or on the way.