Andre Perry

Teachers have taken a by any means necessary approach to closing the achievement gap even at the expense of student learning. Georgia’s Fulton County District Court indicted 35 educators, including former Superintendent Beverly Hall, for a cheating scheme that ultimately produced the wrong kind of results. Dozens of Atlanta public schools teachers, leaders and other personnel are turning themselves in to authorities.

However, are teachers completely at fault? An accountability system predicated on achievement test growth may be a co-conspirator.

How do you like that white chocolate?

According to units sold, America apparently loves it. White soul man Justin Timberlake sold approximately a million copies of his new album The 20/20 Experience in its first week — his highest first week gains to date. His totals are outpacing his black contemporaries.

A few weeks ago, the New Orleans Inspector General reported that he could not tell if the NOPD institutionalized racial profiling, because the department used such crude methods in collecting data during its stop and frisk program.

I found this report almost insulting, in that all one has to do is garner opinions from law-abiding black men who’ve been stopped for no apparent reason. While the latest controversy over racial profiling stems from the recent implementation of Chief Serpas’ “field interview cards,” the practice is far from new.

You have got to see this handsome, new public elementary school located in New Orleans. We could easily walk to this inclusive building as most children who live near the school do.

In this neighborhood, the question of will you send your child to a public school isn’t analogous to Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac. The neighborhood chooses to walk to school together.

Did you remember we’re in Black History Month? Whether you’re hobnobbing at a ball, chaired along a parade route, or drinking it up in the Quarter, raise at least one glass to New Orleans history makers. The onslaught of beads, high heal shoes and pink wigs can easily have you forget about Black History Month, but Carnival should always remind us of the tremendous contributions of Ernest “Dutch” Morial.

Mardi Gras season is upon us, which means there are more days that our children are not in school. Between Mardi Gras, Christmas, summer, fall and spring breaks, in-services and professional development days as well as inevitable storms, when are kids in school? Hard rain on the first day of school — cancel it. Have a winning football season — we’ll take off for that too. Absences due to New Orleans’ traditions combined with the archaic custom of an agrarian school calendar are self-imposed barriers to educational progress.