DOMESTIC
VANDERBILT POLITICAL REVIEW
The Price of Privatization
How school decentralization leaves some students behind
by ALYSSA BLANCHARD ‘18
n the ten years since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ education system
has drastically changed from a traditional school district to a largely choicebased system of independent charter
schools. New Orleans schools prior to
the storm were often perpetuators of inequality: the best schools were located
in wealthier neighborhoods, while lowperforming schools performed so poorly
that virtually all of their students failed
the state end-of-course exams. These
educational inequalities were exacerbated by white flight to the suburbs and
the prevalence of private schools in New
Orleans. Hurricane Katrina, a disaster that
submerged 80 percent of the city in water, prompted a massive reform effort that
converted the traditional school district
into a choice-based, decentralized system
of charter schools. In the ten years since
Katrina, New Orleans’ school reforms
have translated into some improvements
for students. However, while choicebased reforms were intended to eradicate
inequality through the power of the marketplace, the new system has maintained
many of the class-based inequalities of
the old and created inequalities of its