Youth & Education

While New Orleans has been touted as a model for urban education reform, young people across the city continue to face significant barriers to their healthy development. 78,000 young people ages birth to 18 live in New Orleans; 44% of them live in poverty. More than 26,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 in the metro region are not connected to school or employment. Further, these statistics disproportionately impact children and youth of color. There are several efforts to consolidate and align systems and programs to support young people in their healthy physical, social, emotional and intellectual development. For the first time in more than a decade, all New Orleans public schools will return to the control of a locally-elected school board. Disparate early childhood education programs are becoming a coordinated New Orleans Early Education Network, as responsibility for early care and education moves from the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services to the Department of Education. This action table will explore opportunities to increase equity, improve well-being, and create better conditions and outcomes for young people in the city. Potential work might focus on efforts to support youth voice, foster youth leadership, build organizational capacity, improve coordination and address the impacts of racism and systemic oppression on children and youth of color and other marginalized populations.