Candlelight Rally and Press Conference on 6th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina will Highlight the Failed Policies and Broken Promises in New Orleans
Two events are planned to honor New Orleans school employees and bring attention to the "Louisiana Recovery District's" damage to New Orleans schools. By now, most people concerned about the future of New Orleans know that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that Katrina was the best thing that ever happened to the New Orleans public schools. The events on Sunday, August 28, 2011, will commemorate Katrina and remind everyone of what still needs to be done.
New Orleans teachers at the SOS march on July 30, 2011. Substance photo by Sharon Schmidt.“STILL STANDING SIX YEARS AFTER KATRINA” A Candlelight Rally to Honor Pre-Katrina Public School Employees (8/28/11) NEW ORLEANS – As a 6th Katrina Anniversary Commemoration, public school administrators will host “A Candlelight Rally of Remembrance and Resilience to Honor Pre-Katrina New Orleans Public School Employees” Sunday, August 28, 2011, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Duncan Plaza (across from City Hall).
This unique event will be hosted by the Professional Administrators of New Orleans Public Schools, Inc. (PANOPSI) representing principals, assistant principals, and other school administrators, pre and post-Katrina.
On May 8, 2007, Florida L. Woods, a former principal and then President of PANOPSI, said: “Never in the history of our country has an entire school system workforce been terminated en masse - until now. Katrina didn’t wipe out New Orleans Public Schools - the State of Louisiana did,” In planning this event, Retired Principal Walter Goodwin made the following statement which highlights the purpose of the Candlelight Rally: “On September 15, 2005, many of us attended the first meeting of the Orleans Parish School Board after Hurricane Katrina. The meeting was held in Baton Rouge and the State Superintendent of Education said he had requested hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to “help make us whole.” $500 million came and instead of hiring us--- they fired us--- about 7,500 employees. I was forced to collect a retirement check to support my family. Others were too young to retire. Devastation, depression and despair made life extremely difficult! In our Candlelight Prayer Service during the Rally next Sunday, we will remember those employees who have died since Katrina and march as a sign of resilience---celebrating the fact we are STILL STANDING !”
Attorney Willie M. Zanders, Sr. will speak about the “Resilience” of pre-Katrina employees in their fight for justice, especially their patience and support! He will share the story of Principals Walter Goodwin, Cherry Branche, and Florida Woods discussing a lawsuit for all NOPS employees---not just principals---because most employees were displaced. That October 28, 2005 lawsuit later became a “ class action” for 7,500 former New Orleans Public School employees---- principals, teachers, coaches, bus drivers, secretaries, social workers, counselors, security officers, business managers, custodians, Para-professionals, librarians, nurses, etc. Update: A 14-day trial was completed July 23, 2011, but given 4,000-5,000 pages of witness testimony and hundreds of trial exhibits to be reviewed by the Court, Mr. Zanders and the attorneys working with him do not expect a judgment for several months.
Additionally, in recognition of the unveiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall on August 28, 2011, event organizers will acknowledge several “VOICES FOR JUSTICE” for their post-Katrina support of New Orleans Public School Employees and “Everyone’s Right to recover”! To be recognized are the New Orleans Tribune, WBOK Radio Station(1230AM), the New Orleans Agenda, the Louisiana Weekly, PANOPSI’s national affiliate, the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO), and its National affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Contact Persons: woodsflo@aol.com; principalgoodwin@att.net; cherry_branche@msn.com
Broken Promises: New Orleans Public School Reform
John McDonogh High School Community
Press Conference
Monday August 29, 2011
5:30 PM
Students, teachers, parents, community members and the press are invited to join the John McDonogh Alumni Association, Parents Across America NOLA, the Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association, and the Esplanade Ridge/Treme Civic Association in front of John McDonogh High School, 2426 Esplanade Avenue, at 5:30 PM on August 29, 2011 to commemorate the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, to review the state of public education in New Orleans six years later, and to set a course to save our schools.
Taking the fate of John McDonogh Senior High as an example of the failed policies and broken promises of the Recovery School District, advocates for children, teachers and community schools will gather to pray and to demonstrate our investment in our children and our schools. We will be asking hard questions about the ways charter schools have negatively affected our children and about the scandals and failures of charter schools and RSD-run schools. Together we will assert our right to a democratic voice in how schools are rebuilt, what schools are rebuilt, and who runs the schools in our communities.
We will look at the betrayal of public trust in the past six years as the RSD has held community meetings, promised public engagement and then disregarded the wishes of parents and stake-holders again and again. We will examine the false choices that the school district has offered parents and children and the way school choice has divided schools from their communities and from parental oversight and involvement. We will condemn the political influence, waste and lack of foresight that has characterized the rebuilding and renovations of schools thus far and demand a fair, equitable and transparent process going forward. We will expose RSD’s deliberate and systematic neglect of certain schools to justify takeover and closure. We will stand up to save John McDonogh and all our schools from autocratic decisions made by unelected, out-of-touch and out-of-town administrators.
Please join with us on Monday, August 29, 2011 at 5:30 PM in front of John McDonogh High School to advocate for the right of every New Orleans public school child to real recovery, real reform, real improvement and real choice in their schools.
Contact: Dr. Raynard Sanders
sanders246@cox.net
504-228-2147
