The Impact of Teachers

Recruitment and Retention

In New Orleans, our teachers are powerful, talented, and fiercely dedicated to their students. But nationally and locally, it has been hard for schools to hire all the great teachers and principals they need, and to help them stay, especially long-term. On average, over the past three years in New Orleans, 25% of teachers left their roles each year. NSNO is committed to helping them stay.

Source: TNTP Insight Survey, Fall 2023

By 2025, 552 certified, culturally competent teachers with local ties will be recruited, developed, and placed in New Orleans public schools.

Recruitment

  • The New Orleans Grow Your Own Collaborative is a pathway that cultivates high school students into a career in education starting in high school through college to teacher certification.
    • Launched in 2022, NSNO, in partnership with Tulane University, was awarded more than $10 million to strengthen and expand the pipeline of future educators in New Orleans. This program is designed to increase access to high-quality training and open more doors for diverse, talented individuals to become teachers in our city’s schools.
  • The NOLA Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) is a five-year, $8M federally funded initiative led by NSNO in collaboration with SUNO, Tulane University, and TNTP. Launched in August 2024, TQP builds on our previous teacher pipeline work and aims to prepare 804 teachers and 182 school leaders with a strong focus on equity, cultural competence, and effectiveness.
    • TQP is a critical investment in our city’s future, especially in high-need schools, and reflects our commitment to cultivating a diverse, locally rooted educator workforce.
  • New Orleans Teacher Job Board is the official job platform of New Orleans public schools. This is the only website where candidates interested in working in New Orleans can see all open positions in New Orleans public schools.

Retention

  • NSNO has a strong track record of securing federal investments to grow and support a high-quality educator workforce in New Orleans. Through the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant, we worked to increase the number of highly effective teachers in our schools. In October 2021, we were also awarded a $14 million Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive Grant to bolster recruitment and retention efforts across six of the city’s largest charter management organizations. These initiatives laid critical groundwork for our ongoing efforts to build a diverse, skilled pipeline of teachers and leaders citywide.
Read more about SEED