As Douglas Patterson filled out applications June 26 to enroll his two sons at Lafayette Academy Charter School in New Orleans, his youngest, 8-year old Jacob Reeder, stood peering over his shoulder at the blue forms.

The youngster is no stranger to new schools.

Last August, he enrolled in Mary Church Terrell Elementary School—a run-down, failing New Orleans Public School in Mid-City—until Katrina hit. He and his brother, Listritus, evacuated to Houston, where they attended Youens Elementary School throughout the school year.

“It was awesome in Houston,” said Patterson. “They got a great education. Here, they were sent home with all these books every night for homework but my children didn’t even know how to read.”

Patterson said he prefers to have his children attend school in Houston but the demands of his New Orleans-based job forced him to bring them home.

Like thousands of families across New Orleans, his children are returning to a much different public school system where charter schools are replacing public schools and the Orleans Parish School Board has far less control than it once did.

“I’m ready to give it a shot,” said Patterson. “You read about charter schools in the paper and hear how bad they are, but the schools in New Orleans were failing our kids before (the storm). I can only try this and if it works for my kids and others, I’m for it.”

Of the 25 public schools open in Orleans Parish, 18 are chartered. A charter school is a public school run by its own school board.

In the fall, 56 public schools, including the 25 now open, are scheduled to open in Orleans Parish. Of those, 33—or 59 percent—will be chartered.

FRESH START
Education officials say rebuilding the Orleans Parish public education system is unprecedented in the United States. Never before has an entire school district started over from scratch.

And in the wake of the corruption, financial strife and racism that ruined the education system in New Orleans prior to Katrina, school officials say rebuilding must be done right for the charters to succeed.

“I think there is a huge opportunity for success to really change public education, and there’s also a huge opportunity to do the same old stuff and call it a charter school,” said Jim Geiser, former executive director of Louisiana Charter School Association. “What’s really going to make a difference as a community is if we change the infrastructure to change the results. If we end up with 30 charter schools doing the same thing, are we really making substantial changes?”

Most schools will focus on a generic “Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum” but many have niche academic programs.

For instance, Lafayette Academy will follow the Choice Foundation’s Mosaica Paragon program, which teaches history, geography and social studies through music, dance and art; Edward Hynes Elementary School in Lakeview will use French immersion as its academic focus; and Einstein Charter School in eastern New Orleans will focus on math and science.

“This is a business issue,” said Jim Huger, chairman of the board of trustees for Lafayette Academy. “If we can make this city safe and provide good schools for kids, we can bring people back.”

‘PETRI DISH’
On the West Bank, Algiers Charter School Association, which chartered eight New Orleans Public Schools, focuses on teacher advancement programs that allow each school to receive $200,000 for professional development as well as merit-based awards for teachers.

ACSA CEO Brian Riedlinger said control and decision-making at the school level are also catalysts for a successful charter school.

“I think the reason you have charter schools popping up all over is because charter schools are very different than the New Orleans Public School district was,” he said. “Schools were not headed in the right direction. Charters do a good job of pushing decisions where they’re supposed to go.”

The charter school movement in Orleans Parish is just beginning and educators say the country is watching New Orleans to see if it will succeed.

“We’re a petri dish right now,” said Sarah Usdin, of New Schools for New Orleans, a nonprofit dedicated to helping create successful schools. “I think there are some folks in the country looking at us very closely to see if we birth a new system of public schooling that will serve as a model.”

LESSON PLAN
In the fall, 56 public schools are scheduled to open in Orleans Parish. Of those, 33—or 59 percent—will be chartered. The Recovery School District is chartering 19 schools while the Orleans Parish School Board is chartering 14. The latest list of the schools and their chartering organizations:

Advocates for Academic Excellence in Education—Benjamin Franklin High School, 2001 Leon C. Simon Drive

Advocates for Arts-Based Education—Lusher Charter School, 719 S. Carrollton Ave.

Advocates for Innovative Schools Inc.—Moton Elementary, location to be determined

Algiers Charter Association—Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary, 3700 Tall Pines Drive; William J. Fischer Elementary, 1801 Whitney Ave.; Martin Behrman Elementary, 715 Opelousas Ave.; McDonogh No. 32, 800 de Armas St.; O. Perry Walker High School, 2832 General Meyer Ave.; Harriet R. Tubman Elementary, 2013 General Meyer Ave.; Alice M. Harte Elementary, 5300 Berkley Drive; Edna Karr Senior High, 3332 Huntlee Drive

Choice Foundation—Lafayette Academy, 2727 S. Carrollton Ave.

French and Montessori Education, Inc.—Audubon Charter School, 428 Broadway

Friends of King—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology, 2300 St. Claude Ave.

Institute for Academic Excellence—Sophie B. Wright Charter School, 1426 Napoleon Ave.

Knowledge is Power Program—KIPP Believe College Prep, 1607 S. Carrollton Ave.; and McDonogh No 15, a KIPP Transformation School, 721 St. Philip St.

Middle School Advocates—S.J. Green Charter School, 2319 Valence St.

New Orleans Charter Foundation—McDonogh No. 28, 2733 Esplanade; New Orleans Free Elementary, 3601 Camp St.

Treme—Wicker Elementary, 2011 Bienville; Tureaud Elementary, 2021 Pauger St.

University of New Orleans—Pierre A. Capdau Charter School, 3821 Franklin Ave.; Medard Nelson Charter School, 1111 Milan St.; Edward Hynes Charter School, 1700 Pratt Drive

Warren Easton Senior High School Foundation, Inc.—Warren Easton Senior High School, 3019 Canal St. Source: CityBusiness staff research