Should Nevada be the 'new' New Orleans?
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina forced the closing of the failing, corrupt and bankrupt New Orleans public school district. Instead of reopening under school board control, the school district was instead opened with many schools reconstituted as independent charter schools. This meant no more big, central bureaucracy, no more union contracts and no more teacher tenure. Importantly, the dollars follow the student to whatever traditional public or public charter school he or she wants to attend. This creates much-needed competition between public schools. The results have been promising, and today, 60 percent of New Orleans kids attend charter schools.
