Education: New Orleans Moves Towards "All Charter" System

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Great profile in this weekend's WSJ of John White, the new superintendent of the New Orleans school system.  The most interesting part of the interview concerns the post-Katrina system that New Orleans has developed using charter schools.  In many other districts, White points out, charter schools rival the established school system and compete for students, teachers, attention, and funding.  They are often disfavored by teachers' unions and are sometimes seen as prejudicing those students whose parents are disengaged, as uninterested parents are unlikely to take extra steps to enroll their children in these opt-in schools.

New Orleans, by accident, has solved many of these problems.  Eighty percent of students currently attend charter schools, and the district seeks to get that number up to 100% by 2013.  In addition to the improved outcomes, White even argues that charters are easier to manage than centrally-controlled schools. As the system streamlines its enrollment procedures, it will go a long way towards creating a freer educational market driven by competition and dedicated to continuous improvement.