In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many things changed in New Orleans. Almost immediately after the storm, for example, the state fired all of the public school teachers, took over the district, and began privatizing it with charters and stocking them with TFA people. And they did this without any due process.
Eventually, there were only six schools left that the Orleans Parish School Board directly ran, down from more than 120.
Naturally, this pissed off the union, the teachers, and many residents. After all, most of the teachers were veteran teachers with tenure, they were union teachers, and they reflected the culture and diversity of the city. And here were these fresh out of college White kids with no roots and no understanding of the city coming in and only teaching for a couple of years.
So the teachers sued.
And now an appeals court has just handed down a unanimous decision in favor of the teachers. Over 7,000 teachers will be receiving years of back pay and benefits in a settlement that could bankrupt the New Orleans public school system, as well as take a huge chunk of the state budget as well.
So far it's a total victory for the teachers.
Some details: