If you think you know the story of Hurricane Katrina, think again. The impact it had on New Orleans education is a chapter that often goes untold, and it deeply transformed the city’s school system.
We’ve all seen the headlines about New Orleans’ long road to recovery, but behind the news cameras was another story—one that shaped the future of thousands of children. It’s a story of loss, resilience, reinvention, and a fight over who gets to control the soul of a city’s schools.
Where the Schools Went, a new limited-run podcast series from The Branch in partnership with The 74, takes us deep inside the evolution of New Orleans’ public school system in the two decades since the storm. This isn’t a history lecture—it’s the voices of the people who lived the transformation in New Orleans education.
🌪 From Disaster to Reinvention
When Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, 80% of New Orleans was underwater. Homes were destroyed, 1,800 lives were lost, and hundreds of thousands of residents were displaced. The city’s public school system—already plagued by failing academics, crumbling buildings, and deep-rooted corruption—collapsed. The FBI literally had an office inside the school district headquarters.
What happened next wasn’t just rebuilding—it was a radical reimagining for New Orleans education.
🎙 Episode One: The Breaking Point
The first episode rewinds to the years before the storm, when trust between schools and the community had already fractured. You’ll hear from:
- Ken Ducote, a former district employee who smuggled documents to the FBI using code names and classic cars.
- Students who had to walk to Taco Bell just to use the bathroom because theirs didn’t work.
- A valedictorian denied a diploma after failing the math exit exam—for the fifth time.
❤️ Stories of Survival & Rebuilding
This isn’t just tragedy. It’s also about the communities that fought back, especially those involved in New Orleans education.
- A child searching for his mother for over a month.
- A teacher sheltering her family in a church basement.
- Kids in new cities hiding under desks every time it rained.
And just days after the storm? A group of New Orleans educators in Houston—many living in the Astrodome—reunited with students and opened a brand-new school. That campus became a lifeline for children who had lost everything.
⚖ The Debate That Still Divides the City
Some see New Orleans’ post-Katrina school reforms as a miraculous turnaround, transforming one of America’s worst districts into a model for the nation. Others call it a betrayal—a loss of community control, the firing of Black educators, and the erasure of local identity as a part of the shift in New Orleans education policies.
Episode one doesn’t hand you an answer. Instead, it gives you the voices, the moments, and the facts—so you can decide.
🎧 Listen now to Where the Schools Went episode one, and mark your calendar: episode two drops August 19.
