(In the first installment of this article, which can be found here, Bill Quigley described the massive charter school educational experiment going on in New Orleans. That experiment has divided public school children into two groups - those in the charter and high-performing school group and those assigned to the Recovery School District (RSD) a state-managed set of schools for the rest of the children. In this installment, Bill continues the examination and looks at possible and predictable outcomes of this division between the haves and the have-nots.)\r\n\r\n Possible Positive Results of This Experiment\r\n\r\n Given the disastrous start to this experiment, at least for half the children in public schools in New Orleans, are positive results possible?\r\n\r\n Supporters of the experiment rightfully point out the dismal state of public education in New Orleans prior to Katrina. The public school system had a few elite schools that had some racial mixing in their student body, while most of the rest of the schools were underperforming even by Louisiana standards. Outside of the elite schools, the population of the student body at almost all schools was nearly 100 percent African-American. Teachers valued teaching in the elite public schools because they had less turnover, students with better test scores, solid parental involvement and more access to additional resources. There was widespread corruption, resulting in over 20 convictions of school board officials or employees. While the national average term for a public school system superintendent was three years, from 1998 to 2005 the New Orleans average was 11 months.\r\n\r\n At this point in the experiment, it is fair to conclude that the New Orleans public schools are still divided into some racially mixed elite and charter schools, while the other half of the schools must be classified as underperforming and nearly 100 percent African-American.\r\n\r\n On the other hand, supporters hope that this experiment will show the way to improve public education. It very likely will, at least for the half of the children fortunate enough to get into the top-tier schools.\r\n