News - Orleans Public Education Network

Education Theater

Posted November 12, 2019December 1, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in Blog, News

Another season of educational theater… It’s that time of the year again, when all sides don their masks to begin the annual educational theater season, where we all pretend we know where the school performance scores come from and what they mean about the quality of our public education system. You can feel the […]

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#PolicyforthePeople Bills to Watch: Teachers

Posted May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

Teachers may get only one week per year of formal appreciation, but here at OPEN we know that a good teacher can have an enormous impact on student lives, and we support any legislation that supports high-quality teachers. While teachers have the most direct access to students and one of the biggest jobs in public […]

#PolicyForThePeople Bills to Watch: Discipline, Bullying, & Culture

Posted May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

School discipline policy is always a hot topic in the state legislature, and this year is no exception. Public schools and particularly charter schools continue to use discipline policies (i.e. suspension and expulsion) that unfairly impact students of color and are not effective in creating safe and positive school environments. This session, there are five […]

#PolicyforthePeople Bills to Watch: HB338

Posted May 1, 2019May 1, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in News, Uncategorized

Tell schools to keep their codes (and hands) out of Black kid’s hair! HB 338 is an education bill that addresses bullying, harassment, and discrimination policy. The bill requires schools to take reasonable steps to prevent and eliminate discrimination against students and also requests increased work on community engagement and discrimination-related training for school […]

OPEN Commemorates Black History in Education

Posted February 18, 2019April 9, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in News

The relationship between Black Americans and the public education system has historically been a fraught one, driven by tension between Black citizens’ desire for educational opportunities and white power-holders’ determination to keep them out through racially-coded public policy. In fact, Black Americans’ first historical experience with public education was that of an anti-school system, consisting […]

OPENING Letter 2019, Part IV: So What’s Next?

Posted February 12, 2019February 19, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

For much of OPEN’s nearly 10-year history we have focused on building the capacity of people to confront inequitable systems focusing on the place where they are created and negotiated: the policy table. We’ve done it all, from traditional boots-on-the-ground organizing, to policy advocacy, community leadership programs and professional development for homegrown education talent. Through […]

OPENing Letter Part III: What We Need

Posted February 5, 2019February 6, 2019 openLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

It’s not about the failings of public education, it’s about how we fail to show up for Black and brown children. Read Part I here. Read Part II here. Part III: What We Need We’re at a crossroads — some may say a breaking point — and we have a decision to make. Will we […]

OPENing Letter 2019 Part II: How We’ve Shown Up

Posted January 29, 2019February 6, 2019 AdminLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

It’s not about the failings of public education, it’s about how we fail to show up for Black and brown children. Read Part I here. Part II: How We’ve Shown Up A host of responses have been offered to address this issue — some of them claiming (wrongly) that the entire public education system is […]

OPENing Letter 2019 Part I: What’s Failing?

Posted January 17, 2019February 6, 2019 AdminLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

It’s not about the failings of public education, it’s about how we fail to show up for Black and brown children. Part I: What’s Failing? Public education is the first, largest, and most influential public system most American citizens will encounter in their life. This school year, 91% of America’s school-age children are enrolled in […]

Let’s Not Bad-Apple Our Way Out Of Systemic Issues

Posted November 13, 2018November 13, 2018 AdminLeave a commentPosted in Feature, News

Never a dull moment in New Orleans public schools. For a system with approximately only 40,000 kids, it surely knows how to pack in the drama with what feels like weekly episodes of new, tragic and increasingly complex shenanigans. The latest story arc has been focused on the trials and tribulations of Edgar P. Harney […]

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