Gov. Bentley tours charter schools in New Orleans - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Governor Robert Bentley traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana Monday morning to learn more about charter schools.

He toured the schools with Dr. Tommy Bice, the Superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education and Emily Schultz, Bentley's education policy adviser.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005, the state restructured the city's public school system and created the Recovery School District. The district consists of about 90% charters.

By 2013, all of the nearly 70 schools in the district will be charters.

"We believe in granting autonomy with high accountability in our schools" said Patrick Dobard, the Superintendent of the Recovery School District.

He said the accountability factor is key because they hold all of the charter schools to a high standard – making sure they achieve their charters year after year.

The charter schools in New Orleans are each run by private operators but use public funds. There are still several traditional schools which will transition to charters over the next 24 months. The district enters into three to five year contracts with the charter providers and they then revisit them during the agreement and decide whether to revoke the charter or to renew the contract.

One school John McDonough will be transformed into a charter next year and will have an optional culinary arts program for interested students. The future principal of the school explained that no one will be forced to endure that curriculum and that student has the ultimate decision and where he or she wants to go to school within the RSD.

Chris Meyer, who serves as Deputy Superintendent for the RSD, said the schools and students have each made record improvements over the past five years. In 2005, before Hurricane Katrina hit, 62% of all public school students in New Orleans were attending failing schools. In 2011, the percentage of students in failing schools has shrunk to just over 10%.

Meyer explained that even though the schools haven't reached any sort of elite performance status yet, the bar is still high.

"I do think that if we keep the pressure on accountability and let the innovators innovate, I think what you heard today are folks that will say, ‘tell me what the bar is. Tell me what I have to hit. I'll figure out how to do it'" Meyer said.

At the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School, which is considered by many to be among the top charters in the state, pre-kindergarten students played in small, at times unsupervised groups while the governor looked on.

Their teacher, Desi DeLarge, has worked at the school for more than 30 years and was there long before it ever became a charter. She said the school has given her flexibility she never had when MLK was a traditional school.

DeLarge said, "There's freedom of choice. The kids are moveable. The kids learn through play and everything they do has a reason behind it."

Even though MLK is considered a top tier charter school, it does not stack up on a statewide to traditional schools.

According to the Louisiana Department of Education school report card index, MLK received a C+ for the 2011 school year. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of the charters in the RSD received grades lower than C.

The governor ate lunch at Langston Hughes Academy, run by Firstline Schools. It boasts an edible schoolyard where students work to grow produce during some class periods. The school was rated by the state with a D+.

Governor Bentley also visited John Dibert Community School which is also run by Firstline Schools. Dibert received an F rating from the state in 2011.  

 Overall, Gov. Bentley said there was much to learn from New Orleans' Charter Schools. He said it is critical that the state change its ways when it comes to education because what it has done for years simply hasn't worked in some areas.

"We need to make sure that those children have just as much right to have a quality education as people do in Mountain Brook."

Mountain Brook is known for having some of the best public schools in Alabama.

Gov. Bentley also said critics of charter schools have nothing to fear. He said "They are public schools. They use public funds" implying that the state has oversight of the schools.

The governor did admit after the trip that not every school idea is for Alabama. He said he was encouraged by some aspects of the schools in New Orleans but said he would need to figure out with Schultz and Dr. Bice what could work in the state.

"They're not the answer to everything, we know that" Gov. Bentley said. "There are some charter schools that have not worked and there are some charter schools that have worked."

Dr. Henry Mabry is perhaps the most outspoken critic of the charter schools proposal before the Alabama legislature. He's the Executive Secretary of the Alabama Education Association.

Mabry said "If you have a road that has potholes in it, you fix the potholes. You don't go ahead and create another road."

Gov. Bentley said he is optimistic that lawmakers will pass a charter schools bill during the regular legislative session. He said he doesn't want charter schools to become widespread in Alabama. He said he only wants the lowest performing schools in the lowest performing districts to have options.

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