David Osborne, director of Turnaround and director emeritus of PPI’s Reinventing America’s School project, will take questions after the showing.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans embarked on a total reinvention of its failing school system, which was probably the worst-performing district in the nation. State and city leaders gradually turned all New Orleans public schools into charter schools, with autonomy, accountability for performance, and choice for families. The result, over the first decade, was the fastest academic growth in the nation. Today, as urban districts struggle to recover from the learning losses experienced during COVID, New Orleans is again the fastest-improving urban district in America.
Other cities, including Washington, D.C., have moved in similar directions, though not as far as New Orleans. Could these bold reforms offer a model for other cities?
