Up First – How Katrina Transformed New Orleans Schools

Date: August 24, 2025
Hosts: Ayesha Rascoe
Guest: Aubrey Juhas (WWNO, New Orleans education reporter)

Overview

This episode of Up First’s “Sunday Story” explores the profound transformation of the New Orleans public school system following Hurricane Katrina. The disaster prompted one of the largest educational experiments in U.S. history—shifting the city to a nearly all-charter school model. Host Ayesha Rascoe and education reporter Aubrey Juhas examine the historical context, motivations for change, controversial implementation, outcomes, and the evolving definitions of educational success in New Orleans, twenty years after Katrina.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Katrina’s Impact and the Need to Rebuild

• Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, flooding 80% of the city and making it the costliest disaster in U.S. history ([02:12]). Months and years passed before many residents could return; some never did.
• Rebuilding schools quickly became a priority because “without them, you can’t really expect families to come back” ([03:30]).

The Pre-Katrina School System: Problems & Decline

• New Orleans schools had been troubled for decades: white flight, loss of resources, rising poverty, and deep corruption (“the FBI set up a desk inside the school district’s offices in the early 2000s because they had so many open cases of potential fraud, bribery, theft…” – Aubrey Juhas, [04:11]).
• Facilities were deplorable. Former student and teacher Carlos Louis Zurvigan recalled:

  “You know, with asbestos falling off the pipes and the heat not working, the bathrooms not working, we didn’t have proper supplies, the teachers were so poorly paid.” ([04:50])

• Only half of students graduated from high school on time; test scores were among the state’s lowest.

State Takeover & Charter School Expansion

• Even before Katrina, Louisiana began moving toward state control, passing legislation (authored by Leslie Jacobs) to take over failing schools ([07:36]).
• Katrina “jumpstarted” a citywide takeover, rapidly converting nearly all public schools to charters ([08:56]).
• Local reaction was initially negative. Zurvigan found the takeover “very offensive” due to New Orleans’ history and its relationship with Baton Rouge, which he described as “often very hostile…with a racial bent to that.” ([09:12])
• Ultimately, the state controlled 100 schools, delegating them to private charter operators as fast as possible.

Charters: Philosophy, Implementation & Controversies

• Charters were seen as a way to decentralize and disrupt a failed system, with new freedoms for individual schools and parental choice ([10:12]).
• Strict accountability (via test scores) was built in:

  “Basically, charter groups are given a contract to operate a school for a few years, and if they don’t meet the mark..., they aren’t renewed, the school closes, and the state tries again until someone gets it right.” ([11:08])

• Many existing teachers felt excluded or targeted:

  “There was a feeling that the problem in education were educators.” – Zurvigan ([12:49])

• Less than a third of pre-Katrina teachers returned; many were replaced by young, mostly white, out-of-town teachers (often through Teach for America). This led to inexperience, high turnover, and the loss of deep community ties ([14:12]-[15:41]).
• Stacy Gilbert, a veteran teacher, described the layoff and rehiring process as "a slap in the face" ([13:40]).

Community Disruption and Corrective Course

• The new system’s initial years were marked by:
  • Disregard for school legacies (name changes)
  • Strict, sometimes punitive discipline
  • The cutting of music and arts programs—"and, I mean, this is New Orleans. Like, people love Mardi Gras. They love their marching bands, and that disappeared for a little bit." ([16:51])
• Some of these changes were rolled back due to community backlash.

Accountability and Performance: Test Scores, Graduation, and Beyond

• In the first decade post-Katrina, mastery on state tests rose from 6% to over 30%; graduation rates increased from about 50% to over 80% ([18:46]-[19:08]).
• School closures for underperformance were a real consequence; this closure policy was cited as a driver of results:

  “If you close low performing schools, students end up in better schools and they do better…” – Doug Harris, Tulane ([19:21])

• By 2018, state control ended and all schools were returned to local authority, though charters remained dominant.

Rethinking Success: Beyond the Numbers

• The focus on “College for All” was pushed by groups like KIPP, even having students sing about it ([22:45]). However, only college-going rates improved—not completion or persistence.
• Geraldine Stewart, a KIPP graduate, described her struggles after dropping out of college, feeling unprepared for adulthood ([23:20]).

Community Schools, Innovation, and Systemic Limits

• The charter model allowed some educational innovation: "learn by doing" schools like Living School, where students tended banana trees or started businesses ([25:09]).
• When Living School’s test scores dipped, its charter was revoked, despite strong student and parent support at public hearings:

  “You are judged by test scores more than anything else.” – School board member Nolan Marshall ([26:13])

• Closing innovative or supportive schools due to test scores—without broader context—caused community harm.

Recent Evolution and the Future

• The district now weighs student growth and a more holistic range of factors (course offerings, extracurriculars, career pathways) in evaluating schools ([27:43]).
• For the first time since Katrina, a district-run (non-charter) school opened, giving families a “traditional” option ([28:29]).
• There’s growing recognition that the system should allow for varied measures of school success—and offer more choice, including non-charter schools ([28:56]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On New Orleans’ resilience:
  “If you’ve ever been to New Orleans…you know, there was never really a chance people would abandon this city. It’s just too old and magical for people to give up on it.” – Aubrey Juhas ([03:03])

• Veteran teacher perspective:
  “You had good people working in a system that no longer properly functioned.” – Carlos Louis Zurvigan ([05:13])

• Charter school accountability:
  “Basically, charter groups are given a contract…if they don’t meet the mark, they aren’t renewed, the school closes, and the state tries again until someone gets it right.” – Aubrey Juhas ([11:08])

• On the marginalization of experienced teachers:
  “There was a feeling that the problem in education were educators…No matter what reform you try to do, if you bring in educators, they’ll ruin it, because they are the problem.” – Zurvigan ([12:49])

• On college readiness and actual success:
  “Stewart made it to college, but says she didn’t have the support or the resources to make it through. And she ended up dropping out far from a college degree.” ([23:20])

• On the limits of test-based accountability:
  “You are judged by test scores more than anything else…We all know that that’s unfair, but it is the system that we have.” – Nolan Marshall ([26:13])

• Reflections on system change:
  “I’d say it is guided by the principle that we believe if it works, do it. If it don’t work, stop doing it. If it needs changing, change it.” – Carlos Louis Zurvigan ([30:05])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00 – 02:41: Setting the stage—Katrina’s toll and immediate aftermath
• 04:02 – 05:18: Problems of pre-Katrina schools; corruption and disrepair
• 07:36 – 09:54: State takeover; local resistance and eventual acceptance
• 10:04 – 12:28: The charter school model: pros, cons, and community impact
• 13:04 – 15:41: Loss of veteran teachers; reliance on Teach for America; consequences
• 16:51 – 18:33: Culture clashes—name changes, discipline, arts cuts, community pushback
• 18:46 – 19:31: Big academic gains in test scores and graduation rates
• 22:03 – 24:28: Defining success; the “College for All” push; limitations
• 25:09 – 26:29: Living School—alternative models and the dangers of over-reliance on test scores
• 27:43 – 28:29: Broader definitions of school quality and opening a traditional public school
• 29:03 – End: Reflecting on “success,” continued change, and future directions

Conclusion

The transformation of New Orleans’ schools post-Katrina remains one of the most ambitious and contentious educational reforms in recent American history. There were undeniable gains—higher test scores and graduation rates—but also deep pain, community mistrust, and the loss of cherished traditions. The system is now in a phase of reflection and adjustment, balancing accountability with the need for innovation and holistic measures of success. As board member Zurvigan wisely observes:

“If it works, do it. If it don't work, stop doing it. If it needs changing, change it.” ([30:05])

The legacy of New Orleans’s charter school experiment is still unfolding, testing not just academic strategies, but the very definitions of community, equity, and educational success.