新奧爾良進入特許學校時代
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Robert Siegel （Host）： 9 years ago today， 1）Hurricane Katrina 2）demolished much of New Orleans and 3）gutted almost all of its public schools. Today， the school system is unlike any other in the nation. More than 90% of the city’s students this fall are attending 4）charter schools run by dozens of private 5）nonprofit organizations. All parents choose their kids school regardless of where they live. The NPR Ed team is focusing on these and other 6）remarkable changes in the New Orleans schools this fall. As Claudio Sanchez reports， some say this so-called competitive market-driven system is the future of public education， and that New Orleans is the model.
Claudio Sanchez （Byline）： A massive $1.8 billion school construction project is 7）underway here. Almost all the new buildings will eventually house charter schools like George Washington Carver 8）Collegiate Academy in the city’s Ninth Ward. It operates out of a 9）maze of 10）double-wide 11）trailers in a big open field not far from its future home， which for now is nothing more than a 12）skeleton of 13）steel beams. Buses arrive and unload 320 teenagers in white polo shirts and 14）khaki pants.
Unidentified Woman #1： Scholars， I need everybody inside the line. Hands to your side. Please do not touch the 15）rim. Remember...
Claudio： Kids cannot wear colors that are not the school’s colors. They cannot walk outside the blue lines painted on the floors. Too many 16）accessories， too much bling—all banned. Carver’s strict approach to 17）discipline and 18）academics were 19）devised not by a central administration or school board， but by 19）collegiate academies—one of 42 private nonprofit organizations that have pretty much taken over public education in New Orleans. Each one of the 85 charter schools under this system has its own curriculum， its own hiring policies. The expectation—results， namely high test scores.
Jerel Bryant： I got into this because I recognize the 20）stakes of it.
Claudio： Carver principal Jerel Bryant.
Jerel： Here is a group of people w h o a r e n o t getting what they deserved.
Claudio： Bryant， 29， grew up in H a r l e m ， N e w York， graduated from Yale and came to New Orleans in 2007. Like most of the young people who 21）flocked here after Katrina， Bryant had no teaching experience， but says he wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids who had been through so much. Jessica Butler， 15， was in elementary school when Katrina demolished her home.
Jessica Butler： We basically lived in our car for， like， two weeks. And when I actually got to school， I was the new kid. I was the kid from New Orleans.
Claudio： Jessica and her family fled to Houston where she says they did not feel welcome. 16-year-old Clarence Plummer and his family ended up in Houston， too.
Clarence Plummer： And once I got to Texas， people looked at me differently because I was from New Orleans. And they looked at me like， oh， you supposed to be a 22）gangster， let me test and see how real you are. So I’m like， how you just assume that I’m one of them people？ I just come here to go to school. I’m to learn like you.
Claudio： Clarence lost count of the fights he got into in Houston. Carver Academy， on the other hand， has been good for him.
Clarence： Because now it’s like the teachers aren’t really teachers. It’s like they’re actually people you can sit down and talk to like part of your family. So it’s like reaching for their approval on most of the things you do.
Claudio： That change in how kids view their education is why New Orleans has come under a microscope. The city’s children—almost all African American and poor—are now part of an experiment， a chance to rethink everything， says principal Bryant.
Jerel： There is something here that requires some change. I mean， this city， it’s the gamble city for a reason—whether you want to call it an experiment， we have to give it a fair opportunity to see if this can work.
Claudio： 9 years after the state turned the city’s public schools over to charter organizations， test scores have shot up， and kids are 23）outpacing their peers throughout Louisiana. But are New Orleans schools today good enough？
John Ayers： I think the evidence is mixed.
Claudio： John Ayers is director of the Cowen Institute for Public Education at Tulane University. It has 24）chronicled the 25）takeover of New Orleans’ public schools since 2007.