The Choice Channel

“Although hurricane Katrina wrought much destruction and despair, it also provided the spark of reform for one of the nation’s worst school districts. Hundreds of young, mostly white would-be teachers and principals from around the country have arrived for the task – replacing a veteran, mostly black teacher corps pink-slipped by the thousands after the storm. In the two years since Katrina, New Orleans has come to have the highest percentage of students in charter schools among US cities. That’s happened partly in response to the needs of rapidly redeploying a shattered system. It’s also being done in hopes of improving historically miserable test scores and high dropout and expulsion rates.” (09/04/07)