New Orleans is out of money to pay its teachers
New Orleans is out of money to pay its teachers, according Bill Roberti, a director with the restructuring firm of Alvarez & Marsal, which runs the city's school system. At the time Katrina hit, the beleaguered school system was facing a massive reorganization. Sajan George, another managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, believes the hurricane destruction may in its own way provide the system with an opportunity to renew itself. "The rebuilding will afford a number of opportunities in not only rebuilding the physical environment but the educational environment students work in," he says. "The faster we can get back to reopening the school system the faster we can rebuild a world-class city." Louisiana's schools superintendent plans to ask Congress for $2.4 billion in aid for teacher benefits and salaries. Alvarez & Marsal has also sent a letter to the Bush administration requesting federal assistance. Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Education (ED) Assistant Secretary Tom Luce is meeting with North Texas school superintendents to discuss problems related to educating displaced students. Mr. Luce will be accompanied by Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley. He says, "My No. 1 concern is to try and pick the brains of people on site about how they are dealing with taking students in." Other ED officials are visiting San Antonio and cities in Louisiana and Mississippi this week. These fact-finding tours will form the basis for ED's request to Congress for money to pay for the costs Texas faces for educating students displaced by the hurricane. Mr. Luce says ED is "trying to get as much info as possible so we can put together a response package on how the Department of Education can best meet these needs."
CNN.comBy Reuters
[Link to full story]Dallas Morning NewsBy Robert Dodge
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Editor's Note: For background on efforts to reorganize the management of the school district, see NSBA's School Law pages. NSBA has sent a letter to Congress, below, making specific recommendations for disaster relief assistance to local school districts. These include additional Title I funding to account for the increase in children eligible for Title I services; immediate access to student lunch and breakfast programs with waivers of the usual verification requirements; special designations for tax-exempt financing mechanisms for school construction; measures to sustain the long-term creditworthiness of affected school districts; and incentives to help affected districts recruit and retain highly qualified personnel.]
[NSBA School Law pages on New Orleans reorganization][NSBA letter to Congress]