The community of New Orleans faces many issues both school related and not school related. Due to the fact that in 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed as much as 80% of the city. Many parts of the city were below sea level and much of which were only a few feet above sea level, were flooded with water as deep as 25 feet in some areas. This storm damaged or destroyed more than 100 of the school district's 128 school buildings. During this time school reform swept through the city, taking advantage of the damage and transforming the area into a testing ground for charter schools. The majority of students attending public schools in New Orleans now attend independent public charter schools - making New Orleans the only city in the nation where more than half of all public school children attend charter schools.
This natural disaster caused the population of New Orleans to drop over half after hurricane Katrina hit. Seven years after the hurricane, New Orleans population is up to 76% of the population before the storm hit. Out of that 76%, 21.3% are school-aged children. In the time after the hurricane hit, many children were without a home and school. There were community organizations and unions that helped parents best decide which school to place their children in, help to raise money, and an overall guidance to the new schools that were being built.
Over the past 3 years 33 of New Orleans public schools have been flagged for cheating allegations on standardized tests. There were 51 separate occurrences of irregular test scores at schools in 2010, 2011 and 2012 alone. This may be occurring because standardized testing is a primary issue in New Orleans. Usually schools that have low-test scores continuously would be taken over by ...
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... the RSD agency were taking over all low performing schools.
Based on my research on New Orleans and this documentary I think as one solution the teachers and communities should have control over the policies for education reform because no one knows better than the teachers what is effective and what is not. I also feel that all students should have equal opportunities in education no matter their socio-economic status, race or special needs, every child should be receiving the same level of education. I also strongly disagree with testing being the determining factor of funding and teachers jobs being at stake because many students are not good test takers. This documentary and my research on New Orleans have definitely changed my views on the education system and opened my eyes as a future education to the issues that are currently being faced as an educator.
... many parts of the city are breaking down, the school system and the children of the city are suffering more than anyone. There are school buildings that are falling down with leaking roofs. There are classrooms that are overcrowded because the district cannot afford to pay additional employees. Test scores of the students are suffering and many children are falling further and further behind the national standard. In order for the city to rise from the ruins it is in right now, it is necessary for someone to take responsibility for the issues within the schools and fix them. It is impossible to increase the population and tax income in the city when people are continuously moving away. It is time for Detroit to make their children feel safe and cared for at school, and time to make school an enjoyable place again so that the students can begin to thrive again.
The historical event of Hurricane Katrina, a category three hurricane with winds ranging from 111-130 mph, in August 2005 revealed major structural failures in the levee systems of New Orleans. Though not all structural failures are as catastrophic, the breeched levees led to loss of life, homes, businesses, highways, and left a trail of destruction that is still being repaired today. The result of this failure led to lawsuits, conspiracy theories, and court cases. Hurricane Katrina had a major effect upon our country and those results are still rippling on today. Though a city once devastated, major improvements to the failed system have been made and leave the city feeling safe once again.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
In summary, the events of Hurricane Katrina had left a lasting and devastating impact on not only the general public, but also those within public safety including local, state and federal agencies. The storm had affected nearly hundreds of square miles resulting in thousands of casualties, and people misplaced with no homes to go to as well. In addition, there were many contributing factors that had resulted in major life, including the geography of New Orleans, how the levees around New Orleans were built, as well as the lack of coordination between local, state and federal officials.
United States of America. State Advisory Committee. The New Orleans School Crisis. By Betty Wisdom, Albert W. Dent, Moise Cahn, and William T. Handy. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2015.
A nationwide investigation also reviled school across the nation were involved in changing test scores. In order to stop this cruel and I think criminal intent on our children we must understand different learning habits. Also understand the environment of the child. The environment plays a strong role in how our children learn and are able to grasp what is being taught. Most importantly we must be patient. Every child does not learn one the same level. We are all different in so many ways. The teaching outline should reflect our unique characteristics. Let’s use the universalization test. What would the United States be like if every educator changed test scores? We would be a nation of inadequate uneducated individuals. We have an unwavering responsibility to our children.
The levee system was put in place to block hundreds of miles of water to protect the city. One major problem in New Orleans’s resilience was that it relied on the protection of levees rather than implementing a strategy of enhancing overall community resilience. As a result about 80% of the city was submerged under water. The reason why the levees broke was because it had major flaws that were ignored. According to the experts, they said that the one of the reasons why the levees broke was due to the weak soil that the designers had ignored. Another reason why the levee system broke was because it was thought that it could withstand a category 3 hurricane so they didn 't bother fortifying them, In case of a future of like this happens again, we must inspect and make sure that these types of issues are not ignored. We must also put in place far more forbidle levees that are beyond the
... the national 16 percent. Furthermore, homelessness has recently dropped to 2,400 people per night, still higher than the amount that existed before Hurricane Katrina struck, but significantly lower than the 11,000 immediately after the storm. This is largely due to the lack of affordable housing in the area, the last of the previous five large public housing complexes demolished in May 2013. Louisiana is trying to increase the number of individuals moving to the state through major factors such as job growth, particularly in the petrochemical and natural gas industries, which will be part of the 42,000 new job openings in southeast Louisiana in the next six years. However, “the city remains incredibly poor, jobs and income vary dramatically by race, rents are up, public transportation is down, and most public education has been converted into charter schools.”
In 2002, President George W. Bush passed the “No Child Left Behind Act” which tied in schools’ public funding to standardized tests and enforced the tests in elementary and high schools every year by state education departments. This law also began to put more emphasize on standardized tests which has diminished our level of education and the law “made standardized test scores the primary measure of school quality” (Diane Ravitch 28). Bush hoped this law motivated more students to do well on these exams and teachers to help them prepare better, but it ended up hurting many schools in the process. These exams like the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) should not play such a prominent role in schooling and the government should not make tests the main focal point.
Hurricane Katrina had a huge impact on the world and more specifically, New Orleans for there was substantial damage to the citizens property and more importantly their body and minds. The biggest impact Hurricane Katrina has was on the people of New Orleans. Having their homes destroyed or uninhabitable, thousands of New Orleans residents were forced to flee in the Superdome and t...
First, with all the money that is being put into public education, it needs to be distributed evenly. If public schools had similar resources and capabilities, students wouldn’t need to travel far to get a good education and this would solve many problems. An example of this from the film is when a Mother is speaking about her child’s experience at an open discussion. She talks about how her student loves music and music is taught at a one public school and not the other. Money is being distributed unequally and kids are being taken of opportunities that they could have a passion for. Another aspect that I agree with is that for things to change for the better in the future, everyone needs to get involved. Kids in these unfortunate situations can only do so much to speak up for themselves but it will only get them so far. Most of the students aren’t even able to vote yet so it is important the country as a whole is aware of these problems and learn about how to help. Students from everywhere need to feel that they are valued so they have the chance to
...e governments discriminated against poor African Americans residents, but it is only natural that after receiving little aid and having no place to go, those citizens would not return to the Crescent City. The immense displacement caused by the most expensive natural disaster in United States history proved that the City of New Orleans, and the United States as a whole, was not prepared for a natural disaster of that magnitude. It also showed the challenges urban planners face in times of crisis and the weaknesses they need to overcome in order to avoid another decade of reconstruction efforts after tragedy strikes. Despite the fact that nine years post-Katrina many people have still not returned to the city, New Orleans, with every flaw it has, is still an encouraging example proving that with enough effort, battered places can rebuild and begin to prosper again.
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina forced its way into New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of more than 140 mph. This storm was a strong category three when it hit New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed homes, businesses, and factories from the high winds and flooding. The devastation that the city suffered was terrible; many people lost family members young and old and also their most prized possessions. Most of all it displaced families and caused an abundance of damage to properties. Due to the costly destruction that the city of New Orleans faced after Katrina, they must now find a way to alleviate the blighted properties from their environment and also face the challenges.
Every year many natural disasters happen around the world. In New Orleans, and several other states, a devastating hurricane struck. High speed winds and major flooding caused many people to lose their homes and even their lives. Many people have heard of hurricane Katrina, but not everybody knows what caused it and the affect it had on the United States.
Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive natural disaster in the history of the United States of America, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August 2005, leaving behind an estimated damage worth $125 billion US, and a total death toll of over 1800(Graumann et al., 2006). The essay will discuss why Hurricane Katrina had such a devastating effect on New Orleans, the worst affected area, and the post-disaster recovery process.