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Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans had to decide which schools would be rebuilt and by whom. Few conflicts in the Ninth Ward were as significant as the one involving George Washington Carver High School, a pillar of the neighborhood with a rich past and cherished customs.
The opposition was immediate when the state selected Collegiate Academies, a successful charter network primarily run by individuals from outside the area. Alumni came together. During the first year at Collegiate Carver, students organized a walkout. Who gets to decide the future of a place like Carver and whether a model designed for outcomes could ever feel like home to the individuals who had preserved the school’s soul were the main topics of discussion, rather than academics.
Many saw the battle over Carver as part of a broader struggle over the future of New Orleans following the storm.
The image changed over time.
Alumni, instructors, and advocates discuss what happens when people who formerly viewed one another as rivals come to see that they are fighting for the same cause in this episode. Something lovely started to develop as Carver started to combine academic success with a return to the customs that had long characterized the Green and Orange. The Battle for Carver, the second episode, follows that difficult journey and offers insights that go much beyond a single school.
Listen to the second episode above, and keep an eye out for the upcoming installment, which will premiere on August 26. Where the Schools Went Spotify streams Apple podcasts
