Save Tulane Engineering

[doreilly]

From Tulane website in reference to Lusher reopening:

Is this why the books won't be opened?Cowen does have an agenda. This is proof. How can you bail out one school while claiming to have your own school sunk. FYI they have been trying to take over Lusher for years.

Ultimately, Cowen offered enough money to the Orleans Parish School Board to make up the missing local tax revenue that normally helps support Lusher for one semester. In exchange, Lusher would open in January and children of staff and faculty of Tulane (and Dillard, Loyola and Xavier universities) would be admitted--even if they hadn't previously attended--for the spring 2006 semester. Of the 900 students at Lusher this spring, 400 have an affiliation with Tulane.

The school board agreed to the plan--and also approved the formation of Lusher as a charter school, expanding the program through 12th grade. In October, the board okayed Lusher's request for the Fortier High School building to house the new high school. (Before Katrina, the then-existing Fortier was on the takeover list of the Louisiana State Department of Education because its school accountability performance scores had been in steep decline for a number of years.)

Riedlinger and Cowen expect the Tulane/Lusher partnership to flourish, beginning with a "healing curriculum" to help students deal with emotional issues surrounding the storm.

Tulane is also behind fundraising efforts to renovate the Fortier building. The renovation will cost from $10 million to $15 million. The history, stature and location of the mammoth Fortier building at the corner of Nashville Avenue and Freret Street, not far from Tulane's uptown campus, make it an appealing symbol for a rebirth of public education in New Orleans.

"We felt that it needed to stay a New Orleans public school," says Riedlinger.

Lusher's charter status does not change its public school identity, Riedlinger points out, speaking up for the much-maligned system. "We are still a New Orleans public school. And proud of it," she adds.

http://www2.tulane.edu/article_news_details.cfm?ArticleID=6222

[AKManepalli]

they had to do it so that the university could gauratee faculty that their kids would have a place to go to school. it was the only way to start getting faculty back that had kids. it's not some crazy agenda of Cowen's
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Ashok

[doreilly]

What about the fund raiser for Fortier? Also, nearly every school in Jefferson parish was open with vacancies, and many private schools in New Orleans were open and accepting students. If you have any statistics on how many faculty members rely on New Orleans public schools, I would like to see them.

[doreilly]

Also I guess under Cowen's new plan eliminated faculty may not be able to send their kids to Lusher, or at least their kids won't be guaranteed a spot. How is that fair? Not only are they out of a job, but their kids are out of a school.

[cenla alum]

Back in 2004 Fortier was in trouble - even after years of partnering with Loyola - when Tulane entered into partnership with Lusher for the charter on the elementary and middle school discussion led to the approval for K-12 education at Lusher. The middle school would be eliminated and Fortier would be used for the higher grade levels.

A huge stick arose from people in the neighborhood whose children were going to Fortier and one other middle school for two reasons - one Fortier was a failing school and set to be taken over by the State. The other reason being the person Lusher is named after was a racist and precendent had been given to not naming any more schools after slave owners and those persons who prevented the education of minorities.

In spite of this, the Fortier building apparently made available for the upper grades of the charter school, or at least it would appear that way.

BTW - Alcee Fortier taught at Tulane first in the developmental department - YES Tulane actually had what was considered a high school in the early days, and then moved over to the Collegiate level when the French Professor retired. He NEVER had a degree but taught courses on Creole culture, history and French.

[wckirby]

With the Lusher thing, that's mostly Kathy Reidlinger's chance to squeeze money out of Tulane more than anything else.

The only thing Tulane is doing is taking credit for something they didn't do, which should come as a surprise to nobody.

I went to Lusher and it's a fine school, but if anyone deserves credit for how good it is it's Waldemar Nelson. He underwrote the school's operation and never told a soul about it. He got the school new computers, a new roof and airconditioned the whole school without demanding his name be put on anything. He was a good man.
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Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06