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Category
Charter Schools

In-depth coverage of New Orleans’ charter school system and its impact on students, families, and communities. This category examines accountability, equity, and outcomes—asking how the city’s experiment in education reform is shaping the future of public schooling.

Infographic explaining how parents in New Orleans can request special education evaluations for their children, outlining reasons to request an evaluation and timelines for schools to respond and complete assessments.

Back to school: How and when to ask for a special education evaluation

If parents notice their child struggling academically or facing more discipline in school, it may be time for a special education evaluation. Roughly 15% of students in Louisiana have special education plans.
by Marta Jewson October 6, 2025 Updated October 26, 2025

School Board seizes $20 million cash settlement, future funding, amid financial crisis 

The Orleans Parish School Board settles a years-long lawsuit against the city, to provide financially strained schools with help that includes a swift, $20 million cash infusion and $70 million for education over 10 years.
by Marta Jewson November 18, 2024 Updated November 18, 2024

We’re Not Done Yet

Twenty years after Katrina, we need an educational reset
by Adrinda Kelly November 14, 2024 Updated November 11, 2024

Promises Unfulfilled: The Politics of School Choice

Amid questioning from parents who cannot find good schools to enroll in, school-choice advocates need to find more and more avenues to advance their mantra, to hold on to it.
by Luis Mirón November 5, 2024 Updated November 5, 2024

After herky-jerky process, Lafayette Academy may stay open.

Parents and students at Lafayette Academy were put through the wringer, as the district yanked its charter, announced it would close, and then reversed that decision, with an 11th-hour proposal to direct-run the school that probably won’t be approved by the school board until late February.
by Marta Jewson January 29, 2024 Updated May 7, 2024

Living School mom asks school board: ‘What’s more important, test scores or actual students?’

by Katy Reckdahl and Marta Jewson December 4, 2023 Updated May 7, 2024

School-facilities millage up for a vote on Saturday

"This is about honoring our commitment to educating our children in safe and modern spaces," Dr. Williams writes. "Learning spaces matter, and they can help scholars excel academically."
by Avis Williams October 10, 2023 Updated October 9, 2023

Lycée Français board considers $165K CEO contract amid financial concerns

by Marta Jewson May 23, 2023 Updated May 23, 2023

Superintendent eyes racial disparities in school enrollment

Williams presented data on what she called “eligibility schools,” or the handful of New Orleans public schools with some type of eligibility requirement. She identified 10 schools, four with academic requirements and six with a language requirement.
by Marta Jewson May 19, 2023 Updated November 14, 2023

Behind the Lens Episode 204: ‘Some of the most shocking things we heard about were medical and mental health care’

Our guests this week are reporter Nick Chrastil on what deficiencies monitors found at the Orleans Parish Jail and reporter Marta Jewson on racial diversity in the city's charter school system.
by Carolyne Heldman May 19, 2023 Updated May 19, 2023

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The Lens fights to reveal and report on issues that impact the community and the region. Staunchly defending the public's right to know and deeply committed to sharing our knowledge with the community at large. We center human impact in all our work.
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