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Background | School Operators
The Recovery School District (RSD) controls the largest number of public schools in New Orleans with 33 district-operated and 26 chartered schools. The RSD is the only entity in New Orleans with the authority to open new schools and the responsibility to accept any student. All RSD-operated and chartered schools have open-enrollment policies. Structurally, the RSD-operated schools function as a traditional school district with decision-making authority concentrated in the central office. Busing, meal services, security, and information technology decisions are made by the RSD central office. However, some principals in RSD-operated schools believe they have more autonomy than school leaders did before Katrina. The RSD also differs from a traditional school district in its staffing flexibility - the RSD teaching staff is not unionized. Salaries are based on a common salary schedule and performance incentives are currently being considered. The district is able to hire, fire, and promote based on policies other than seniority.
The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) operates seven schools directly and oversees 12 charter schools. The OPSB has reopened all of the schools that it has authority to operate or charter. The seven district operated schools are overseen by the OPSB superintendent and central staff. Since 2006, the OPSB teaching staff is not unionized.
Started in 2005, the Algiers Charter Schools Association (ACSA) was created to provide New Orleans students, mainly on the West Bank, with a high quality public education. ACSA is a charter school network which currently operates nine charter schools—two authorized by the OPSB and seven authorized by the RSD. All of the schools were previous OPSB schools converted into charter schools. All ACSA schools have open enrollment policies. For most operational issues, ACSA operates largely as a district. It has centralized funding and purchasing, teacher recruitment, and shared services. All ACSA schools use the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum as their academic focus. However, unlike a traditional school district, each ACSA school and principal is empowered to select the instruction style and academic and developmental services that best suit the needs of their student populations. Principals are also allowed to manage their staffing decisions, and all ACSA schools are nonunion.
Forty charter schools currently operate in New Orleans—nine of which are part of the ACSA. The remaining 31 schools are operated by 27 different operators. The New Orleans charters have a wide range of legal structures, operators, and network affiliations.
Charters offer diversity in curriculum focus and student calendar (e.g., hours in school, days in school, opportunity to attend summer school). Several charters offer elongated hours or summer school. In addition, charters have a wide range of innovation in pedagogies. A majority of charters utilize a curriculum other than the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum. Enrollment standards for charter schools differ. Of the 12 OPSB charters, six schools have selective enrollment policies requiring students to take and pass standardized tests. All RSD charter schools have open enrollment policies.
For information on individual public schools in New Orleans, check out the New Orleans Parents' Guide to Public Schools, located at http://www.nolaparentsguide.org. Inside the guide you will find some basic information about every open public school in New Orleans. You will also find contact information for the authorities who are in charge of public schools in New Orleans.
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