Charter school renewals hinge on school letter grades from the state. Orleans school district officials have strongly hinted that four schools may be up for closure.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Report Election Day voting problems to Electionland
For the second time, The Lens has joined ProPublica’s Electionland, a coalition of newsrooms around the country that are covering problems that prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots during the 2018 elections.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Justice reform hobbled by unhealthy dependence on bail, fines and court fees
We balance court budgets on the backs of those least able to pay.
Posted inInside the News Room
Week in Review: ‘I had no choice but to move out. It was not livable.’
Shawanda Holmes took her two-year-old son Louis to the doctor in 2015 for what she assumed would be a routine check-up. He was about to start school at a Head Start center, which required its students to get a blood lead test. But his result came back more than four times the level that indicates […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 5: ‘There should never be a declaration of war against the people of this city’
Michael Isaac Stein on Entergy and paid actors. Kerry Nix on lead poisoning. And Charles Maldonado on The Lens’ fake subpoena lawsuit.
Posted inSchools
Harney charter school principal fears board may fire her at Friday meeting
The principal thinks the board may be intending to use a defamation claim from Juan LaFonta as a false pretext for firing.
Posted inSchools
As Crescent Leadership Academy closes, city lacks alternative placement for middle school students
Seventh and 8th grade students who are expelled from one school will now attend a different elementary school.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council votes for potential $5 million fine on Entergy, some councilmembers open to revoting on power plant
Two councilmembers indicated that they are open to revoting on Entergy’s proposal for a new power plant in eastern New Orleans.
Posted inEnvironment
Central City lead poisoning case shows possible weaknesses in state prevention program
Shawanda Holmes’ son had lead levels four times above national standards. She later found out a state program had already identified hazards at her house, but it appears the state never followed up.
Posted inOpinion
Coming Together after Pittsburgh: Our faiths have watered the same ‘Tree of Life’
For more than a century, New Orleans Christians and Jews have reached across the divide.