Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Class Date: 01/10/2012

Instructor(s): John White, Lourdes Moran, Kenneth Campbell & Andre Perry

John White — Superintendent
John White was appointed Superintendent of the Recovery School District in April 2011. He previously served as deputy chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, overseeing Talent, Labor and Innovation for the nation’s largest school system, serving more than one million students. Prior to that role, he served as chief executive officer for the Department’s Portfolio Division, where he was responsible for turning around failing schools and starting new schools. He also served as deputy chief operating officer for the Department. Before his move to New York, John served as executive director for Teach for America Chicago and Teach for America New Jersey. John received a master’s degree in public administration from New York University and earned a bachelor’s degree in English with distinction from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the 2010 class of the Broad Superintendent’s Academy.

KENNETH L. CAMPBELL - Founding Board Member of the Black Alliance for Education Options
Kenneth L. Campbell, a founding Board Member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), was selected as the organization’s President in January 2010. BAEO’s mission is to increase access to high- quality educational options for Black children by supporting parental choice policies and programs that empower low-income and working class Black families. The organization celebrated its tenth anniversary in March during Symposium 2010 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Before he accepted the BAEO presidency, Mr. Campbell had served as Director of Charter Schools for the Louisiana Department of Education since 2007, where he helped to create an environment where charter schools could grow and thrive in New Orleans and the rest of the state.
Mr. Campbell, a strong advocate for high quality educational options for Black children has worked to support the creation of high quality charter schools for more than 15 years. He played a key role in helping to establish a strong charter school movement in Washington, D.C. during the 1990s. He was part of the initial effort that worked to get one of the country’s best charter school laws passed for the District. He also created the D.C. Charter School Resource Center to ensure there was an environment in DC where charter schools could be successful and to teach people how to start new charter schools.
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Mr. Campbell helped to establish charter schools in urban areas across the country, working with Mosaica Education, Inc. Prior to his position with the Louisiana Department of Education, he spent almost four year years in Doha, Qatar, where he helped the country’s leadership in its efforts to convert its existing public schools into charter schools, as part of the most progressive school reform effort ever attempted in the Middle East.
Mr. Campbell was also a founding Board Member of Building Excellent Schools, which works to raise the quality of urban charter schools in the United States by helping entrepreneurial individuals design, build and maintain excellent schools in under-served communities while building partnerships and networks of support.
Mr. Campbell served in the United States Army and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Captain in 2005. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Averett College in Virginia and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Touro University International. He resides just outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with his wife, Shelia and eleven-year-old son.

Lourdes Moran - Orleans Parish School Board
Lourdes Moran is married with three daughters – two attending public school and one who has graduated. She and her family are residents of Algiers, where she has been actively involved in New Orleans Public Schools and numerous community and civic associations. She has been an involved parent, public school volunteer and chairperson of numerous fundraising and event-planning committees.