When it comes to the stories of people "on the ground," I'm averse to happily-ever-after stories, and this is no more true than in the case of New Orleans. The coverage of the 10th year anniversary of the disaster that is Hurricane Katrina has been generally full of fuzzy numbers and biased anecdotes. In the hunt for the most-read coverage, some journalists forgot to pass the mic for extended periods of time to the people who lived the experience.
In times of tragedy, what often gets lost is the humanity of the people behind and in front of the agenda. Those of us, including myself, who are outside and have rarely visited New Orleans want to say we get a clear picture of New Orleans schools, but that's had serious implications. We can be happy that some students are learning in better-looking conditions, but is the price NOLA pays in the children that "disappeared" from the registers too high? Probably. We can be happy that there are some educators making a difference in children's lives, but does NOLAed need a teaching force that reflects an outsider's agenda or the needs of a rebuilding community?
I know where I stand on the argument, but it's not my place per se. I can help advocate. I can suggest. I can hope. But ultimately, my best advocacy is the amplification of voices that are there. As many lives as we lost ten years ago, we ought to value the ones that are still here. We do this by assuring agency for the students, parents, and teachers there.
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