The state of public education in post-Katrina New Orleans was the topic of discussion at a June 19 forum at Dillard University sponsored by local and national Black journalist groups; the Orleans Parish Place Matters initiative; and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based research and policy institute. The forum featured a panel discussion by area education experts and presented sobering statistics on the impact demographics can have on accessing a quality education.

Held in conjunction with the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in New Orleans this week, the forum, entitled “Reforming Education in Post-Katrina Louisiana,” enlisted Dr. Lance Hill, of the Southern Institute for Education and Research at Tulane University, Kira Orange Jones, a member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), Eric Lewis, state director of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), and Karran Harper Royal, a local education rights advocate, to discuss the effect recent education reforms have had on the city’s students and parents.

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