President Obama traveled to New Orleans Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on the city. As part of his remarks at a community center, Obama praised the incredible educational progress New Orleans has made without crediting the cause: School choice.
“Working together, we’ve transformed education in this city,” Obama said. “Before the storm, New Orleans public schools were largely broken, leaving generations of low-income kids without a decent education. Today, thanks to parents and educators, school leaders, nonprofits, we’re seeing real gains in achievement with new schools, more resources to retain and develop great teachers and principals.
“We have data that shows before the storm the high school graduation rate was 54 percent. Today it’s up to 73 percent. Before the storm, college enrollment was 37 percent. Today it’s almost 60 percent. We still have a long way to go but that is real progress.”
One hundred percent of that progress is thanks to New Orleans’ all-choice school system, Center for Education Reform President Kara Kerwin told the Washington Examiner Thursday. In New Orleans, every family has a say in where their child will go to school, something few other cities can claim. Before Katrina, most students were trapped in their public school, regardless of quality.
Besides school choice for all, New Orleans has benefited from a thriving charter school environment. Today, nine out of 10 students go to charter schools. Charter schools are funded by the government, don’t charge tuition and have to be open to all students. If there’s not enough space, lotteries determine who gets in to these schools. Charter schools have more flexibility than traditional public schools, so they’ve been able to adapt quickly to the challenges of post-Katrina New Orleans.
This isn’t to say that the educators, parents, nonprofits and school leaders Obama cited aren’t responsible for the progress. But without school choice and thriving charter schools, many of their efforts would have been hamstrung.
Obama claimed to be working together with schools. To the contrary, had it been successful, Obama’s Department of Justice lawsuit against a private school choice program would have harmed students.
The Louisiana Scholarship Program allows over 7,000 low-income students in bad schools to attend a private school of their choice. Ninety percent of those students are racial minorities. Yet the Department of Justice has tried to get the program shut down, claiming it impedes desegregation.
Fortunately, the courts didn’t take any scholarships away. Still, Louisiana must give the Justice Department racial background data on students in the program, so the department may challenge scholarships in the future.
In his speech, Obama didn’t appear to be taking credit for the educational success. Still, if Obama wants to praise New Orleans’ progress, he should give ample credit to school choice.
