Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Kira Orange Jones, who represents New Orleans, may need to give up her state board post, according to a draft advisory opinion released this week by the Louisiana Ethics Board. The proposed opinion, which the ethics board will consider in July, says Jones isn’t allowed to work as […]
Author Archives: Jessica Williams
Jessica Williams stays on top of the city's loosely organized collection of public schools, with a special emphasis on charter schools. In 2011 she was recognized by the Press Club of New Orleans for her reporting on charter school transparency and governance. In 2012, she was part of a team that received a National Edward R. Murrow Award for their work following a New Orleans family's recovery after Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Edna Karr Secondary School in Algiers, and she obtained her bachelor
Posted inSchools
Artist Corps brings practicing musicians to classrooms
Six-year-old Pride College Prep student Ferdinand Carter knows how to play 35 songs on his classroom’s keyboard, and he can read the sheet music, too. Ferdinand and nearly 40 of his kindergarten classmates have learned to play and read music through the school’s music education program, which uses the national nonprofit music instruction system Music […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Hynes releases 2012-2013 budget for public review
The Edward Hynes Board of Directors has released the school’s 2012-2013 budget for public review. View it here.
Posted inSchools
Teacher job application asked race, gender and marital status
Until Tuesday, teachers applying to work in the four charter schools in the Capital One-New Beginnings network were required to disclose their race, gender and marital status – information that could lead to discrimination lawsuits. A day after The Lens asked about the unusual application questions, the network removed its application packet from its website. […]
Posted inSchools
School vouchers are distributed as expanded program kicks in
About 2,300 New Orleans public school students have been offered slots in private schools under the state’s voucher program, leaving about 5,500 spots still available at schools across the state, the Louisiana Department of Education announced today. The department unveiled the list of private schools slated to accept those students today, as well as other […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Eastern New Orleans students want more reliable, faster bus service
Benjamin Franklin students who live in eastern New Orleans have made their voices heard – they want a more reliable form of transportation to and from school, and they want it soon. Students protest for better bus service. A vigorous protest by more than 20 students, who are also associated with the Vietnamese American Young […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
Crescent City Schools management group discusses vision for merger and expansion
The boards of Harriet Tubman Charter School and Akili Academy of New Orleans came together Wednesday night to discuss the future vision of the charter management organization that will soon run them both, Crescent City Schools. The organization, which took over Tubman last summer, received the go-ahead in March from the state Board of Elementary […]
Posted inSchools
Like the old days: School Board meeting descends into chaos
In what was likely the most tumultuous Orleans Parish School Board meeting held since the board’s contentious pre-Hurricane Katrina days, members Tuesday night stopped arguing among themselves and with some audience members long enough to raise the city’s property tax modestly and appoint its interim and deputy superintendents. Undoubtedly, a major source of the turmoil […]
Posted inSchools
Algiers charter board meets in private building with little notice
By Jessica Williams, The Lens staff writer | The board of trustees for the Algiers Charter School Association met Monday night to discuss their chief executive officer’s departure – but it didn’t notify the news media of the meeting and they held it at a private office building in the Central Business District. Shortly after […]
Posted inSchools
Union cries foul over firing of custodians at six RSD schools
Former custodians at six of the Recovery School District’s direct-run schools say their former district-contracted employer fired them last week without just cause. Custodians say representatives from ARAMARK, a Philadelphia-based service corporation that RSD contracted with on April 1 for janitorial services, told them on May 1 they didn’t pass the probationary period that’s standard […]