Giving Compass' Take:

• The next phase of the New Orleans Recovery School District will be in the form of charter schools that will have greater autonomy and flexibility.

• What potential barriers can charters schools run into regarding school autonomy and flexibility? 

• Read more about New Orleans push to provide high-quality education. 

In July, as required by state law, all city schools that remained in the Recovery School District returned to the oversight of the Orleans Parish School Board. Now, the most radical school improvement effort in U.S. history enters a new phase, with a unique shared governance model that requires charter schools and their authorizer — the school board — to work together to realize a common vision for a citywide public school system.

Charter schools are grounded in the idea that by allowing for more autonomy in return for greater accountability, educators can make decisions closer to the classroom and, thus, improve outcomes for students. More often than not, we limit our thinking about innovation to the academic parts of the work, such as curriculum and teaching.

Yet there are other areas of influence and innovation that impact the success of a charter school.

That said, there are some cautionary notes. If this promising reform effort is to continue delivering results, it is critical that the school board put politics aside and resist the temptations of knee-jerk reactions and top-down bureaucratic mandates and, instead, create frameworks of accountability that focus on results. Micromanaging schools will not equal better performance. Instead, it will lead to a loss of the autonomy, flexibility, and innovation that have been so vital to the New Orleans turnaround.

Charter boards should continue to be allowed to think in innovative ways, shielded from shifting political winds that often hamper traditional, locally elected district boards. Charter advocates must also encourage the school board’s elected members to think differently about their roles as they walk a delicate line between the community’s need for democratic authority over its school system and the autonomy that is legally mandated for the city’s charter schools.

Read the full article about New Orleans Recovery School District by Caroline Roemer at The 74