I think it's an oxymoron.
This is a bad story. I don't like it one bit.
This was all put together and brought to my attention by an anonymous tipster. I'm copying and pasting their words but I'll be embedding some links and highlighting some text.
This is interesting given the recent Washington Post article on charters. The first link is to a story that appeared today on Audubon Charter School. This is the school where New York Times reporter Adam Nossiter's son attends and his wife, Sharon, is secretary of the board—French and Montessori Inc. FAME). It mentions that they raised $26,000 to send the fifth grade class to France for a field trip. A picture showed 16 students, three of whom were black. In other words, in school system that is 90% black, 82% of the Audubon students are white. Audubon is "open enrollment lottery" k-3 and then in the third grade students take an admission test to advance to 4th grade. So why so few black students?
Link three [THIS IS A PDF] is the admission requirements for the lottery. A few weeks ago there was some controversy over Audubon giving first preference to French nationals, but the Times-Picayune and school officials concealed much more than that. Not only is preference given to French Nationals, but siblings of current students are also given preference—a practice that the Justice Department has forced other schools to stop because of racial discrimination. Moreover, to qualify for the "tier one" lottery, students have to have attended a private French Language academy or a private Montessori school. To prevent low-income students who might have found a free French or Montessori school from getting in the lottery, Audubon actually lists only ""approved/accredited" schools on the last page—all expensive private schools. This may be the only "open enrollment" public school in the U.S. that makes genetics or a private school education a condition of admission. You can bet that no one in the "second tier" ever gets in.
The second link [ALSO PDF] has a photo of the kids on the tour which gives you a sense of the ethnic composition. Note also that the school passed itself off as Katrina victims and got the Eagle Scouts and Americorp to expand the current playground. All this while the school raises $26,000 for a vacation in France and schools like Carver Elementary, an RSD school, are housed in trailers and have no playground so children have no recess.
"This may be the only 'open enrollment' public school in the U.S. that makes genetics or private school education a condition of admission."
Is this the school reform we've been hoping for?Why are we entrenching additional educational inequality in New Orleans?
Update: See also Ray's place for questionable spending at Langston Hughes Charter
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