Though Louisiana legislators passed a statewide ban against physical punishment in 2023, parents can still give permission for their children to be physically disciplined in school.
Author Archives: Marta Jewson
Marta Jewson covers education in New Orleans for The Lens. She began her reporting career covering charter schools for The Lens and helped found the hyperlocal news site Mid-City Messenger. Jewson returned to New Orleans in the fall of 2014 after covering education for the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in journalism and social welfare and a concentration in educational policy studies.
Jewson has covered New Orleans schools for 15 years through the nation's largest education reform experiment. She was a founding member of the outlet's Charter School Reporting Corps and was instrumental in holding schools accountable to sunshine laws during the rapid expansion of charter schools in the city.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Episode 282: Orleans Parish Prison after the storm ‘We’re still in here’
Bernard Smith and Katy Reckdahl on the men trapped in the Orleans Parish Prison and Broad Street Bridge in the wake of the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina that flooded New Orleans.
Posted inKatrina20
The long arc of John McDonogh Senior High School
The ups and downs within the John McDonogh High School building illustrate the persistent inequities of New Orleans public schools
Posted inSchools
Despite early LEAP results, state needs four months to create School Performance Scores
This year, LEAP scores came back from the state of Louisiana in record time. Do parents understand the scores? Do kids? Now, the state begins to crunch school statistics to create School Performance Scores, which could lead to charter-school closures later this fall.
Posted inSchools
Council pushes mayor to institute a 60-40 city-school split for school-zone ticket revenue
A state law passed last year required cities to share a portion of school-zone camera tickets with the schools themselves. But the City of New Orleans and local schools have not yet agreed on how to split the money.
Posted inSchools
Fannie C. Williams School suspended child; told her to come back with “mental health” eval
It’s unclear how the school’s order affected the student, who did return, but sporadically. But the school district sent Fannie C. Williams administrators a serious ‘notice of noncompliance’ in the case, which is still under investigation.
Posted inSchools
K-3 reading improves as Louisiana continues early-literacy focus
Armed by scientific studies, reading experts urged a resurgence of phonics, which helps children learn to read by sounding-out words, in a way well-known to older generations. But the state’s third graders are still struggling from their Zoom-heavy start to reading.
Posted inSchools
KIPP and NOLA Public Schools argue over special education of a kindergartener
Parents said that their young child was too sick to go to school. But the school disagreed, and so the child received no services last year, then started this year with no services. It’s still unclear who’s to blame — and how to catch other students before they fall through the cracks.
Posted inSchools
School leaders, board “cautiously optimistic” about city’s settlement offer in tax-skimming lawsuit
Over the past five months, as the two parties negotiated, charter leaders have been tightening belts and hoping that the city will finally agree to hand over 100% of property-tax money to schools, instead of skimming away millions each year.
Posted inSchools
Lycée Français forked over $408k after error during last renovation
Given that mistake, parents question whether the school is financially ready to repair McDonogh 15 in the French Quarter.