National Conference on Education Reform

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Kids and Communities in Crisis -


The Common Ground Kids & Community Project is helping to organize a
National Conference on Education Reform, to be hosted June 23-25 at
the University of New Orleans.  We hope that this historic event will
attract education activists, reformers, innovators,
progressively-minded rank-and-file teachers, community leaders and
parents to share ideas and effective educational models to improve
schools and community-based educational programs nation-wide, and
specifically to breathe new life into the beleaguered New Orleans
Public School System and all educational support programs.

The choice to host the conference in New Orleans is very significant.
The Orleans Parish Public School System, which was the 50th largest in
the nation, with 60,000 students and 4,000 teachers, had been failing
for decades:

Standardized test scores had been abysmal. According to the Greater
New Orleans Community Data Center, of all public high school students
taking the GEE exit exam in 2000, 65% scored below the basic level in
English, 62% scored below the basic level in Mathematics, 66% scored
below the basic level in Science, and 58% scored below the basic level
in Social Studies. Improvement in coming years seemed unlikely, as
many 8th grade students taking the LEAP exam also fell below the basic
level, 75% in English, 65% in Mathematics, 80% in Science, and 74% in
Social Studies. Even at the 4th grade level, 60% were below basic in
English, 68% were below basic in Mathematics, 72% were below basic in
Science, and 65% were below basic in Social Studies (basic level is
the equivalent of a C grade). Compared to the already unimpressive
Louisiana averages, these numbers help one understand why 73 of New
Orleans 117 public schools had recently been labeled as "failing"
according to state education accountability standards.

One quarter of the adult population did not hold high school diplomas,
and by some estimates, only 39% were fully literate, with another 39%
at Level I literacy ("functionally literate," ie able to fill out a
job application or tax forms, but little more) and a full 22% unable
to read or write at all. This was another trend that had not been
changing quickly, as the dropout rate continued to exceed 10%, and
over 50% of 2nd graders and 39% of 3rd graders had been below standard
reading level.

These numbers reflect a legacy of economic and racial injustice in New
Orleans. In a city where over 18% of kids had attended private schools
(compare to the national average of 11%), one is not surprised to
learn that 75% of public school students had received free or reduced
lunch and 93.5% of them had been black (in a city with a 66.6% total
black population).

According to the National Public Education Financial Survey, of which
the 2002/2003 report is the most recent available, each public school
student in New Orleans had been meant to receive $6922 per year,
significantly less than the national average of $8041 per year. But
corruption had been so prevalent in the New Orleans Public School
System, that an August 2005 federal audit had determined that $69
million in Title I funds were missing. Figuring that in cuts the total
funding per student in 2005 to only $5772. In fact, after learning
that the school system could only estimate they had between 7000-8000
employees, and had payroll errors of over 20%, the FBI actually opened
an office inside the school administration building. This had resulted
in two dozen indictments for theft, kickbacks, and fraud, with many
more expected.

The devastating hurricanes of late 2005 essentially crushed what was
left of the failing New Orleans school system. In mid-March, with 3
months left in the official school year, only 19 of the city's least
damaged public schools are open, with most of the rest removed from
the jurisdiction of the local school board and placed directly in the
hands of the Louisiana Department of Education. The school system
layed off 7500 employees, both teaching staff and administration, on
January 31st, and Mayor Nagin stated that with the population expected
to remain below 50% of its former level, the city budget must be
slashed from $600 million to $230 million.

With 10,000 students back in school, and more attempting to return
every day, many kids sit on waiting lists. Those who do get in are
often bussed to unfamiliar schools, with teachers who do not know the
students or one another. Classes average about 30 students, and
resources such as gymnasiums, computer labs, art supplies, and musical
instruments are unheard of at many of the schools. Nearly every school
hour is devoted to studying for the standardized tests, for fear that
the new charter school system being pushed by the State and the
consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, previously responsible for the
disastrous St Louis school "reforms," as well as the No Child Left
Behind programs, will deal heavy punishment to schools which are
deemed "under-achieving." The prospects for a decent education for
returning students seem grim.

However, many teachers, parents, and reformers in New Orleans are
working tirelessly to turn this situation around.  Common Ground hopes
that a National Conference on Education Reform will bring an infusion
of energy, resources, and support to these hard-working community
leaders facing an unprecedented challenge.

We are working to organize workshops and panel discussions focused
around the following topics:

Funding: Innovative models to maintain independence and integrity for
programs that insist upon serving all students regardless of income.

Organizing: Alternative administrational models, including democratic
schools, community schools, and creative use of space and resources.

Teaching: Programs that have found success in work-based education,
family-oriented literacy, locally-rooted cultural wisdom, and other
often untapped knowledge.

Growing: Programs that have found ways to instill responsibility,
community service, social skills, and critical thinking abilities into
everyday learning activities.

Inspiring: Programs that encourage students to succeed, to be
self-motivated, and to pursue knowledge in every sphere of their lives.

We are finding experts to make presentations concerning the historical
and present racial and economic oppression in the south in general,
and New Orleans specifically, and the profound effect these have had
on the systemic neglect of the public school system in New Orleans.

We are also making arrangements to provide site visits to existing
public schools and effective educational programs in the city.

In addition, we are organizing this conference side-by-side with a
national political campaign to draw attention to the criminal neglect
of New Orleans public schools, and the hard-working teachers and
community members who are receiving inadequate assistance even in this
time of crisis.  We will demand more support for the students,
teachers, and community leaders of New Orleans, and accountability on
the part of all officials who have allowed this travesty to happen.
We will demand that schools are reopened, community enrichment
programs are funded, and adequate housing is provided for all families
who wish to return.

Soon we will be ready to start registering participants, but we would
also like to make a request to any individuals or organizations who
are interested:  we need help to make this happen.  Applications or
requests for specific presentations, assistance with logistical
organizing, and monetary assistance to help secure adequate facilities
and to provide support for devastated local education initiatives are
all essential to the success of this conference.  We also hope to make
arrangements to provide professional development credit, and if
possible, modest stipends to ensure that all can attend regardless of income.

We realize that time is short, but we feel very strongly that this
moment is critical.  With so many kids dropping farther and farther
behind every day, and an anticipated influx of returning families
during the summer months, people of conscience cannot wait on the
State of Louisiana's empty promises.  We must pool our resources
together to provide our children with the education and support they
deserve, first in New Orleans, then throughout the nation and the world.

All children deserve a strong education: academic, social, spiritual,
and moral.  All children need strong schools and strong communities to
realize their potential.  Please help us in our struggle to regain our
future.  Thank You..



Please contact us with any questions or ideas:

Common Ground
Kids & Community
504 717 5255

Kids & Community is a project of Common Ground Relief.  We are making
a general call for educators, child-care providers, and anyone else
interested in working with children and teens in New Orleans.  Please
visit our website:  http://www.commongroundrelief.org

Please Forward Widely

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