Katrina sweeps in school overhaul

NEW ORLEANS — The slimy mildew clinging to classroom walls for years, the termite-eaten floors, the paint peeling from school ceilings — Hurricane Katrina washed all that way.

The storm that destroyed much of this city also devastated the New Orleans public schools.

But that wasn't all bad.

The system, regarded as one of the worst in America, had been rotting for decades: Buildings were neglected. Kids weren't learning. Millions of dollars were squandered or stolen.

Now, six months after Katrina, only a small number of schools has reopened so far, but many people see the storm's destruction as a unique opportunity to rebuild a system that had no place to go but up.

"This is the silver lining in the dark cloud of Katrina," says Sajan George, a turnaround expert who began working at the schools before the storm. "We would not have been able to start with an almost clean slate if Katrina had not happened. So it really does represent an incredible opportunity."

But how does a school system reinvent itself in a city when money is scarce and misery plentiful?

Boldly.

That's what some educators are proposing with a plan that calls for a major shakeup: Schools would be grouped in clusters run by managers. Students would have choices about where they'd attend. And most money and hiring decisions would shift from the superintendent's office to the principals, who are considered more attuned to their schools' needs.

"We have to have a whole new mind-set about how we approach public education," says Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University and head of a mayoral committee that developed the plan. "If we can get our heads around true transformation, we can turn it around."

But change won't come easily.

There's a long history here of squabbling among board members, scandal and academic failure. And that was before Katrina. Now there are new headaches: Thousands of teachers have no jobs. Parents are frustrated with the slow pace of school reopenings. And insiders are openly skeptical of plans for the future.

"I don't think you turn around a failing system by changing the structure of the system," says Ora Watson, interim superintendent of the New Orleans public schools.

Watson also feels not everyone is being heard.

"Some people are being left out of the conversation," she says. "I'm talking about poor people, people who populated the schools, the African-American community."