OPEN Sustains and Grows

T’is the season of giving and gratitude, and OPEN says “Thank you!” to all of the partners and supporters who shared their time, resources, skills and energy with us this year. With your support we brought hundreds of community members to the public education conversation through events, advocacy and outreach. We’re here to bring real talk to real issues and connect people to policy in ways that are accessible, timely and useful — but we couldn’t have done it without you. And most importantly, because of you, we were able to do this work as a truly independent, community-based advocacy organization. Thank you for sustaining and renewing critical advocacy work like...

OPEN’s weekly newsletter comes directly from the people. With our constant commitment to staying responsive to parents, teachers, educators and advocates who need timely information about what’s actually happening in the public school system, we thought about how we could best provide answers to questions like “Where do I go for special education advocacy?”, “When are the school board meetings?”, and “What happens when a school gets taken over?”. 

And we’re not shy about giving the people our opinion too- “What do you think about the school performance scores?”, “What’s up with a school closing in the middle of the year?, “Why does OPEN intentionally and unapologetically focus on the experiences of Black children in the public school system?”  or “What’s really going on with my local public school?”. The only way people can effect change is with information and opportunities for critical reflection and action. In its second year, our weekly publication delivers an overview of the local public education landscape that includes news and reports, events, advocacy opportunities, data, research and our own two cents to connect all of us in this work for equity and justice for students and families in public schools.

Starting with our annual events Policy Breakfast and Public Education Week (formerly “Parents Night Out”), we’ve incorporated web-based information into our event series so that our community — especially parents — are able to access critical information anywhere at any time. From our decade of making policy and advocacy accessible to the people, we know that even the most involved parents can’t make all the meetings. So we started to offer event videos, webinars, and other recorded conversations so that stakeholders can have the information and insights on hand to advocate for themselves and students in real time.  We heard from policy and practice specialists in special education, parent advocacy, early childhood development and more. 
With a positive response from speakers and listeners, we incorporated design improvements into our third rollout for Public Education Week 2019. Over the course of a week, OPEN spoke with 20+ community advocates to produce daily webinars and events. OPEN gives many thanks to the community partners who made that happen.

Whether in person or online, we’re creating a space where community members can contribute to the conversation on K-12 public education unapologetically through the perspective of racial and wealth equity, justice, transparency, and accountability. These conversations are full of insights and are often hard, yet necessary to get a more comprehensive and representative narrative about the state of the New Orleans’ public education system. 
 
We are connecting with others to bring about justice and equity in a system that is serving historically underserved and oppressed student groups. We’re here for truth-telling and candid conversations, not sugarcoating or PR spin. And we invite the entire community of education stakeholders — all of us — to join OPEN’s early childhood and K-12 advocacy platforms, and share your experiences and truths. Only then can we truly measure the impact of the public education system and the school reforms on not only students and families in New Orleans, but also on other communities across the state and country confronting these critical issues. 
 
In the pipeline for 2020, expect reflections on white supremacy and parent activism in schools with contributors like Overcoming Racism and El Pueblo NOLA, and reflections from international educators about their perceptions of the New Orleans public school system. 
 
From the very beginning, we have been ambitious, unapologetic, OPEN to hard conversations... And we’re just getting started.