“Unification is an idea whose time has come” — Deirdre Johnson Burel on 100 Black Men Panel

04.25.16 by

Our own Deirdre Johnson Burel spoke at a panel hosted by the 100 Black Men of Greater New Orleans on April 20th. From The Louisiana Weekly:

As legislation moves through the house and senate seeking an end to the fractured system of education governance in New Orleans, the 100 Black Men of Metro New Orleans last week held a “Public School Unification Forum.”

According to 100 Black Men president Jonathan Wilson, “The question is not if public schools should be returned to local control. There is a general sentiment that schools should be under the governance of the Orleans Parish School Board [OPSB]. If the schools are to be returned, the community must be more engaged in the future of public education. A true story of resilience for public education in New Orleans would conclude with a single high-performing school district governed by members of the community by the city’s 300th anniversary.” …

Those two words – “oversight and accountability” – were uttered countless times during the forum, whether talking about the state’s often dubious and convoluted data (as well as unreliable self-reported data from the charter schools), special education monitoring, millage spending, and discipline policies. The grading systems – both at the school and state level – has also lacked accuracy, many noted, when parents aren’t sure “If a B is still an F.”

First and foremost, “We need good information,” Johnson-Burel said. “We need credible, solid information, and data we can trust.”

Click here to read the full article!

Deirdre Johnson Burel on WBOK: “Yesterday was the time for schools to return. As long as it continues to be urgent, it’s still urgent.”

03.31.16 by

Deirdre Johnson Burel and 100 Black Men’s Jonathan Wilson appeared on WBOK’s Good Morning Show with Oliver Thomas to talk about the call for unification in bringing New Orleans schools back to the community, equitable funding, and the critical anchors of equity, transparency, and accountability.

Click here to listen to the full interview:

OPEN Partners With Community Organizations in Calling On BESE to Support More Equitable Funding Formula

02.25.16 by

In a statement released on February 24, OPEN joined with in the movement calling upon the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a more fair and equitable funding formula for our schools.

Click here to read the letter in its entirety.

EXCERPTED: “This March, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) will have the opportunity to approve a school funding policy for New Orleans that ensures schools serving significant populations of our city’s students with high-needs receive the funding they need to provide an excellent and equitable education to all their students. The formula currently under consideration would route additional funding to schools serving students with disabilities, English language learners, significantly over-age students, as well as those identified as gifted or talented…

When confronted with decisions on how to allocate limited resources, students in our city who may face a more challenging road to academic excellence should receive the additional resources necessary to provide them with an equitable opportunity to achieve their dreams.

We urge BESE to approve a formula that sufficiently and equitably funds schools based on the needs of their students. Approval of a funding formula that truly differentiates according to our students’ needs is vital to continuing the progress we have made and is a clear demonstration of New Orleans’ commitment to equity for all students.”

Participating organizations include the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, New Schools for New Orleans, VAYLA New Orleans, Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, the New Orleans Parents’ Guide to Public Schools, STAND for Children, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools and the Youth Empowerment Project.

Parent Leadership in the News — StoryCorps Interview with Deirdre Johnson Burel and Saundra Reed

02.15.16 by

The StoryCorps is in New Orleans! This independent radio project has a mission to “preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world,” and in December our own Saundra Reed and Deirdre Johnson Burel went on the mic to talk about parent leadership, the Louisiana Children’s Museum and the vital importance of a safe space for family-first learning.

The voices in StoryCorps’ work build connections between people and reveal the importance of narrative. Every person’s story is unique and precious: listening to them promotes compassion and reminds us all of our shared commitment. Thank you to the team for having us on!

Click here to listen to the full interview!

OPEN Partners with 100 Black Men on School Governance

02.10.16 by

Encouraged by the large community turnout and positive response to the public education forum the group held in December, the 100 Black Men of Greater New Orleans is looking to engage the local community in conversation on governance and a possible return of schools to local control.

OPEN is proud to be a part of this initiative, working with stakeholders and policymakers to create an inclusive and equitable action plan for locally-operated, locally-governed education system.

Collectively, we hope to begin public dialogue about the return of public schools to local control and to engage the entire community in the conversation. Tentpole issues include clear and consistent accountability policies, transparent charter board practices, and rigorous oversight of charter schools to ensure equity for all students.

Click here to read the 100’s full press release, and stay tuned for more updates and action alerts!

City Council Cox Community Grant Program Chooses FLTI As A Partner

02.10.16 by

We are pleased to announce that the Family Leadership Training Institute has been chosen as a partner in the New Orleans City Council / Cox Communications Louisiana Community Grant Program!

These funds will support the development of 20 parent and 6 student leaders as they matriculate through 20 weeks of training in advocacy, media, fundraising, policy and more.

OPEN would like to extend a special and heartfelt thanks to Councilmember LaToya Cantrell, whose leadership and assistance played a vital part in the granting process. Thank you, LaToya! Please know that your commitment to family-based leadership will have major impacts on the FLTI members, and the causes they’ve chosen to impact.

New Orleans Media Visit with the Family Leadership Training Institute

01.22.16 by

“Getting publicity for a good cause is one of the hardest parts of being a grassroots leader, and I appreciated these journalists taking the time to give us tips. But I’m concerned that so many of the people reporting on education in this city aren’t fully engaging with the community, aren’t reaching viewpoints on all sides of the story. There’s a cultural context to these issues that goes beyond ‘just the facts.’ It’s my hope that this meeting was the start of a continued conversation — both for FLTI leaders to get their message out there, and for the local media to bring authentic, local parent voices into what they write.” — Lamont Douglas, FLTI Parent Leader

As part of their “understanding the media” session, the Family Leadership Training Institute were treated to a January panel session with Eve Abrams of WWNO, Steve Beatty of The Lens, and Danielle Dreilinger of the Times-Picayune/NOLA.com.

In this lively hour-long discussion, the presenters talked about the importance of narrative, how to successfully pitch a story, and the unique angles that parents provide for education journalism.

Many thanks to these media professionals — the parent leaders truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and advice!

Deirdre Johnson Burel on WWNO: School Choice and Educational Equity

01.22.16 by

On January 20, Deirdre Johnson Burel made an appearance on WWNO as part of the Southern Education Desk series, saying “[t]he argument against school choice is really about the power of the school as the nexus of community. That schools are really anchors to community. And we should invest in quality schools in every neighborhood.” She says more choice doesn’t necessarily mean more good options.

In New Orleans, there are some high performing, high demand schools. However, “we have a lot of mediocre schools that are in the middle. And so ultimately choice is optimally about having choice around high quality. And when there is a pool of mediocrity, what does that really mean?”

Click here to listen to the full story!

Deirdre Johnson Burel on ERA Equity Panel

08.01.15 by

We’re proud to announce that our Executive Director Deirdre Johnson Burel participated in an Education Research Alliance for New Orleans equity panel entitled The Distribution and Isolation of Students across Schools by Race, Income, Special Education, ELL, and Achievement. Does choice lead to greater integration or segregation across schools based on race, income, special education, ELL, and/or achievement? How does the distribution of students across schools under the reformed school system compare to schools in New Orleans pre-Katrina? How important is integration as a goal for the New Orleans community?

Click here to see the full video!

#NOLAParentPerspectives Brings Parents Into Dialogue

07.31.15 by

On Thursday July 23, parent voice finally took center stage in the New Orleans education conversation. The NOLA Parent Perspectives Town Hall brought together real parents of New Orleans public school students to showcase broad and diverse perspectives on issues like OneApp, school closure, governance, accountability and more. Polls taken at the event demonstrated that:

• 53% of people in attendance if they could change one thing about the OneApp process they would mandate that all schools participate 
• 96% of people in attendance voted against school closures as a means for dealing with a failing schools 
• 64% of people in attendance voted that all schools should be returned under the jurisdiction of Orleans Parish School Board 

The event was co-produced by OPEN, Stand for Children Louisiana, Black Alliance for Educational Options and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans.

Click here to see a full video of the panel on WYES!

Click here to read a full recap at the Second Line Education Blog!

Next Page »
©2016 Orleans Public Education Network