In 2003, New Orleans public schools were among the worst in the country. Seventy percent of eighth-graders were not proficient in math, 74 percent weren’t proficient in English, and the graduation rate was barely over 50 percent. Moreover, the district was as corrupt as it was incompetent. FBI investigations led to the indictment of two dozen school officials; nearly $70 million in federal funding was missing.
New Orleans schools have since achieved a remarkable transformation. In 2023, the high school graduation rate was 79 percent, and 65 percent of graduates enrolled in college—nearly double what it was in 2004 and higher than the state average.
This success, one expert argues, was powered by the city’s commitment to charter schools. Publicly funded and but independently operated, charter schools enjoy more autonomy than traditional public schools in what they teach and how they teach it. Their charters, however, are dependent on their performance, which author and director David Osborne says is key.
In his new documentary, Turnaround, which premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival last fall, Osborne chronicles the rise of New Orleans public schools through its use of charters and argues for the expansion of this model. Osborne is the author of six books, including the 1992 bestseller, Reinventing Government.
Watch or listen to the full podcast on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes, or read the transcript in Washington Monthly.
