Act 91 & Key System Values
NSNO believes equity and access must be at the center of discussions about our public schools. We believe our current system preserves access and equity through “Act 91.” Act 91 is an important piece of state legislation, now codified in law as La. R.S. 17:10.7.1 which unified public schools in New Orleans under the authority of the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) after years of state control in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Importantly, it also solidified elements of family choice and access and gave schools autonomy to innovate while holding schools accountable for their academic performance, governance, and fiscal management.
OPSB and NOLA-PS have the authority under Act 91 to make new policies and shifts that continue to help schools improve and structure our district to better serve children. Our district is able to change to meet our community’s evolving needs while still being held to structures and policies that ensure those changes don’t impinge on equity for students or accountability and autonomy for schools.
Our schools have made great, measurable progress over the past 20 years. We also know there is a lot of work ahead before every child has the education and opportunities they deserve. we believe the key system values of autonomy, accountability, access, and equity need to be at the center of any discussion.
Ultimately, Act 91 helps us continue to build a more equitable system of schools, and we must preserve it. Below are some of the ways equity and access work now in our system of schools.
Equity in School Funding
Act 91 sets out the use of a differentiated funding formula, which provides more funding for students whose education costs more to provide. In many districts across the nation, and for many years in New Orleans, funding for schools was not calibrated to students’ needs. In 2007, the Recovery School District developed the first “differentiated” funding formula to address this problem.
Under the formula, all schools still receive “baseline” funding for each individual student, but the formula increases funding based on certain categories of students’ needs–such as students who are learning English or who have disabilities. In 2016, RSD and OPSB worked together with school leaders to develop an updated formula to apply to all schools beginning the following year. When Act 91 was adopted, it codified the use of this type of funding formula–and with community input, they have continued to hone and adjust it.
Equity in Access and Enrollment
In most districts, if the school that best meets a family’s needs is not in their neighborhood, their children are unable to attend it. In New Orleans, students can apply to and have the chance to enroll in schools across the city, no matter where they live. Act 91 preserves this access. Each year, students fill out the New Orleans Common Application Process (NCAP). They list their top choices of schools, and then, a lottery determines their placement–not who they know, how much money their parents make, or where they live
Equity in Expulsion Polices and Procedures
In 2012, the Recovery School District created a centralized Student Hearing Office and set of expulsion policies and practices, so that all students would be held to the same standards for this serious consequence. The policy ensured that no school can independently remove a student, that students are expelled only for the most serious offenses, and that students who are expelled are placed in a new school environment that can meet their unique needs. When Act 91 was passed, it preserved this centralized expulsion procedure, ensuring fairness in the process for students and continued access to appropriate school environments and supportive services.
