District Administration - December 2006 - (Page 61)

DISASTER RECOVERY the best thing that could have ever i nef ficiency and criminality; and a Roberti is even predicting a budget happened to us, says Orleans board retooled system of operations and surplus for this year. We'll have to member Fahrenholtz. Make teach- fiscal management. book several years of surpluses to ers responsible for what they say T here are also changed attitudes. catch up, he figures. But it didn't they are doing. Now everyone has Parents are more engaged in their get messed up in one year, and it to perform, or they're gone. Why we children's education, and educational won't get fi xed in one year. allowed them protection in the past leaders are implementing reforms. The changes all add up to better for their failures is beyond me. We kidded ourselves for so long schools, he concludes. If you're run- that things weren't so bad here, n i ng a smooth, well-balanced opera- New Fiscal Controls says longtime Orleans Parish School t ion with clean, well-maintained Board member Jimmy Fahrenholtz. schools and money to operate, then Get t i ng the district's house in fi scal When the storm hit and people a superintendent can really turn to order was also a pre-Katrina night- went to other places, they saw what the meat of the matter, which is edu- ma re that is turning into an opportu- those communities and their schools cat i ng children. n it y, says fi nancial and restructuring were like, and they saw that things expert Bill Roberti, whose fi rm Alva- Debates Continue could be different. rez and Marsal specializes in organi- Most New Orleans schools now zat iona l turnarounds. The fi rm has For all their high hopes and new fall under the jurisdiction of the state- been on the scene since early 2005. approaches, New Orleans' new edu- appointed Recovery School District, This was a system badly in need cat iona l leaders are still dealing with which ran four schools in 2003 and of restructuring, Roberti says. Even confl icts and ghosts of the past. For 2004 but post-Katrina was handed before Katrina, we were going to have example, Tulane's Cowen raises con- an additional 107 underperforming to go through reductions in force cer ns over the balkanization of the schools by Louisiana's state legislature. and close buildings, and the deferred public schools. If there's one thing Our state superintendent of schools maintenance on other buildings was we'd like to see happen, it's a single started getting calls from around the enormous. Katrina really acceler- governance system, he says. Right country, asking, `If I bring my kids ated dealing with all of those issues. now we have a hodge-podge. back, what will you do? We want to According to FEMA, almost 30 On the other hand, Jarvis prefers come home, but we want them to schools suffered catastrophic damage to turn over autonomy to RSC prin- have a good education, recalls RSD's and may have to be demolished. cipa ls more gradually. We feel they Superintendent Robin Jarvis. T he district's fi nances were in need to have a knowledge and skills The state plan puts the Recovery even worse shape, says Roberti, the base before we let it all loose, she School District in charge for the next product of longstanding mismanage- says. Jarvis also warns about going five years before returning authority ment and widespread corruption. overboard with good ideas. We to the Orleans Parish School Board. The system was running a $100 have national experts who have a This fall, RSD had 34 schools up and million deficit at the end of 2005, vision for how things should work. running, half of them charters, which and payroll errors were occurring Everybody has a plan, and some- Jarvis insists is part of a new era in at a 20 percent rate, compared to 1 t i mes I have to slow them down. public education. Building blocks percent nationally. But educators defi nitely do not included the Louisiana Comprehen- Instead of having to fi x something want to go back to the way things sive Curriculum, a standardized pro- that's broken, we're putting in a new were in New Orleans, with a sprawl- g ra m in English, math, science, and system with controls that we didn't i ng central bureaucracy, powers social studies instruction and assess- have before, Roberti says. Those of special interests, and political ment that replaced the mosaic of past controls should eliminate the fraud infighting that went through 10 curricula. Also required is a strict that ranged from stolen equipment superintendents in as many years. 20:1 maximum student/teacher ratio to false retirements claims and that Riedlinger therefore sees the present in the elementary grades and a cap of so far has led to an FBI investigation course as a one-time opportunity. 25:1 in high school, down from the and more than two dozen indict- We're in a spotlight from every former 35:1 ratio. And teacher work- ment s. The central office will also direction, and we have got to do it days have expanded from six hours have a more reliable payroll system, right, he says. If we go back to the to eight hours, with one and-a-half a new IT system for grades K-12, and way we were before Katrina, shame on us all. DA hours designated for planning and a greatly reduced central staff, down development. from over 1,200 to well under 100. T he non-union environment is A s a result of the strict controls, Ron Schachter is a contributing editor. December 2006 61 www.DistrictAdministration.com nola.indd 61 11/13/06 11:24:45 AM http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - December 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside The Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Mayor controls LA district
Who's In Charge In LA?
How Safe Is Your School
National school security plan
District Administration's 6th Annual Salary Survey
Fresh Chance for New Orleans Schools
Fresh start for New Orleans
Alfie Kohn on the homework myth
The Homework Myth
Conventional Guide to Birds of a Feather
Speaking Out
Anne Bryant on school board relations
Professional Opinion
Principal Opinion
Problem/Solution
Leadership Books
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - December 2006