New Orleans education career resources

63,000 students attend public schools in New Orleans. The New Orleans public school system ranks second lowest in Louisiana, with the majority of schools considered to be failing.

The Recovery School District (RSD), an arm of the Louisiana Department of Education, is created to take over and turn around chronically failing schools statewide.

By the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, five failing schools in New Orleans have been transferred to the RSD and transformed into charter schools.

Hurricane Katrina strikes at the very start of the 2005-06 school year. The subsequent failure of the levee system causes flooding to 80% of New Orleans, killing over 1,000 people and damaging at least 45 public school buildings.

107 low-performing New Orleans schools are transferred to the RSD, leaving the city’s 10 highest-performing schools with Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), the local school district.

A shortage of high-quality charter operators results in the RSD opening and directly operating 17 schools, in addition to overseeing 17 charter schools. Due to the gradual opening of schools, families are allowed to enroll their student in any school city-wide.

25,000 students return to New Orleans public schools for the new school year, with 54% attending charter schools.

The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approves a plan to rebuild damaged public schools in the city, funded by FEMA disaster recovery dollars.

FEMA, RSD, and OPSB negotiate a historic lump sum settlement of $1.8 billion to repair and rebuild New Orleans public school facilities.

39,000 students attend New Orleans public schools, with 70% enrolled in charter schools.

The RSD creates OneApp, a citywide unified enrollment process that allows families to choose and enroll in schools across the city according to their preferences.

41,000 students attend New Orleans public schools, with 83% enrolled in charter schools.

44,000 students attend New Orleans public schools, with 92% enrolled in charter schools.

The RSD and OPSB collaborate to develop legislation providing for the unification of public schools under OPSB oversight by 2018.

New Orleans public schools have a graduation rate of 73% – up from 54% in 2004 – and rank 18th in the state for college enrollment rates.

All RSD schools in New Orleans return to the oversight of the Orleans Parish School Board on July 1st.

Almost 50,000 students attend New Orleans public schools, with 98% enrolled in charter schools.