Three choice selections on educational options

In the Sunday Globe, Jim Peyser had a terrific (and hopeful) piece on the transformation of the New Orleans public school system. You think New Orleans is so different from many of our Middle Cities? Think again — and review Pioneer’s Rehabbing Urban Redevelopment. Failing schools, deep and troubling crime trends, and no economic opportunity. All that’s missing is Katrina. Then we can say how shocked we are at the “appearance” of a permanent underclass.

Money quote from Peyser:

The public schools in New Orleans were under water long before the levees broke.

What has happened since the disaster, however, is redefining urban public education. Instead of simply rebuilding the old district, based on the old institutions, policy leaders in New Orleans and Baton Rouge decided to start from scratch, fashioning a public education system based on new ideas and promising models of reform from around the country. From the wreckage, New Orleans is emerging as a bold experiment in what a city school system can be.

ABC News did an equally good piece on the MATCH school’s focus not only on getting inner city kids into college but also preparing them to succeed.

Now comes a very useful tool for parents in Boston who are looking for school options called… drum roll, please…. Boston School Options! Link here. It has listings and information on public charter schools, METCO options, parochial and private schools, exam schools, and more. You want options, parents? You got ’em. Just not enough of them for everybody.