In her recent letter to the editor, Barbara Ferguson stated that the “charter school experiment has been a failure.” I don’t believe that is an accurate or fair characterization of the progress we have made toward the goal of assuring that every New Orleans child can attend an excellent school.
I acknowledge that we have much more work to do to achieve that critical goal, but where Ferguson sees failure, I see real growth. In 2005, before the state took over failing New Orleans public schools, barely half of New Orleans public school students graduated from high school; nearly 80% now graduate. Then, more than 60% of New Orleans public schools were rated “academically unacceptable.” Only 8% now qualify for that description.
I share Ferguson’s commitment to equity and access to high-quality education for all of our children. I applaud and support the remarkable and dedicated work of our teachers, our school leaders and our students. They are not failing. Their hard work, and their hard-won progress, deserve the support of our entire community.
STEPHEN W. HALES, M.D.
New Orleans