Public Education
Thousands of schoolchildren across the Louisiana Gulf Coast were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Two years after the 2005 hurricanes only half of New Orleans schools have re-opened. What’s worse is the schools that have re-opened are divided into two tiers in a grand experiment at the expense of parents and students in New Orleans. The top tiered schools are racially mixed elite and charter schools. The other half of the schools, the bottom tier, are run by the Recovery School District and can be classified as underperforming and nearly one hundred percent African-American. This decision to run two school districts with multi-layered governing bodies, has led to numerous problems (lack of transportation, books, hot lunch, school facilities, qualified teachers), producing disarray and confusion, deeply frustrating many parents and students. In response to overwhelming requests, LJI President & CEO Tracie Washington helped coordinate several initiatives in 2006 and early 2007, including the following:
»» the New Orleans Public Schools Monitoring Line, which advised parents, students, and school employees of their rights and resources, and logged complaints for action by school system officials. School system officials were asked to respond to public complaints within one week;
»» the Disciplinary Advocacy Training seminar with Pyramid Community Parent Resource Center, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP LDF. This nation is experiencing a crisis through the direct school-to-prison pipeline. In order to break this cycle, parents and community groups must be better prepared to defend children against unnecessary and illegal suspensions and expulsions. This first of its kind training in New Orleans provided community advocates with the tools to handle suspension and expulsion hearings on behalf of New Orleans public schools students; and
»» the state court class action lawsuit, Royal vs. Orleans Parish School Board, which forced the Orleans Parish Schools to comply with Louisiana law and provide free transportation services both to and from school for all students living one mile or more away from their school.
LJI continues this groundbreaking public education advocacy work with Operation Posse: Parents of Students with Special Education Needs. In signing the school takeover legislation, Louisiana Governor Blanco promised a grand experiment to repair and reform New Orleans schools, which would serve as a model for the rest of the state. But many children, parents, and school administrators are not being served and have no where to go for redress. In response to several requests for advocacy, LJI has launched Operation Posse. Thousands of flyers will be distributed to parents, students, and school employees, advising the community of their legal rights and providing an opportunity have complaints forwarded directly to the applicable administrators. LJI will conduct its first training for 20-30 parents and students in December 2007, with three more to follow in January and February 2008.
LJI is also currently working to bring a new attorney on staff for 2008-2010 to focus on coordinating of our Children’s Advocacy Project, which will include legal and media advocacy on behalf of students with special needs who have been the subject of disciplinary action and their parents. The attorney will work with the city and state to bring increased mental health services to poor children and children of color in New Orleans Public Schools in the hopes of avoiding a generation of students faced with discipline before learning and incarceration not college. The Children’s Advocacy Project attorney will likely handle 15-20 individual cases at a time, as well working towards the broader goal of forming coalitions around these issues and supporting existing campaigns.
