Katrina Wasn't the Best Thing That Ever Happened

to New Orleans and its school system. The system has gotten much worse since charters took hold.

You will notice that the statewide average (in a low-performing state) of students who reached basic or above was 75%.

You will also notice that only six of the charter-voucher schools met or exceeded this average (and two more came close).

The average proportion of students in the Recovery School District that reached basic or above was 49%.

Looking for a miracle?

Keep looking.

I believe the student population was shaved almost in half following Katrina. Many of the poor forced out of NOLA never returned.

Despite this record of failure, the governor has decided he wants to privatize the entire state school system.

This is libertarianism gone apeshit, but more accurately this is a wholesale assault on democracy by the top one percent and their political hatchet men.