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William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans
Why should you care about what happened to William Frantz Public School? Yes, Ruby Bridges entered the iconic doors of William Frantz in 1960, but the building's unique role in New Orleans school desegregation is only one part of the important history of this school. Many additional and equally important stories have unfolded within its walls and the neighborhoods surrounding it. These stories matter.
It matters that society has historically marginalized Black students and continues to do so. It matters that attempts to dismantle systemic racism in schools and other institutions still face strong resistance, and these issues continue to deeply divide the United States. It matters that the building remains standing as an indomitable symbol of the resiliency of public education despite decades of waning support, misguided accountability, and a city devasted by Hurricane Katrina. It matters that opportunism, under the guise of recovery, reshaped public education in New Orleans.
William Frantz Public A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans provides more than an examination of education in one school and one city. It recounts a story that matters to anyone who cares about public education.
It matters that society has historically marginalized Black students and continues to do so. It matters that attempts to dismantle systemic racism in schools and other institutions still face strong resistance, and these issues continue to deeply divide the United States. It matters that the building remains standing as an indomitable symbol of the resiliency of public education despite decades of waning support, misguided accountability, and a city devasted by Hurricane Katrina. It matters that opportunism, under the guise of recovery, reshaped public education in New Orleans.
William Frantz Public A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans provides more than an examination of education in one school and one city. It recounts a story that matters to anyone who cares about public education.
302 pages, ebook
Published October 2, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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December 9, 2024I was supposed to have finished this like 3 weeks ago #class but it is so dense. I still finished it bc #readinggoal. I can't really rate it bc it's just straight info like idk what I would be judging 🤷
December 4, 2020
This book is of interest to anyone who cares about public schools, whether as a former student, a teacher, or just a community member. You may not know the name William Frantz Public School, but you probably know parts of its story--the moment a young Ruby Bridges walked up the steps to desegregate the school in 1960, or the destruction to New Orleans wrought by Hurricane Katrina. This particular school's story is used to show the challenges that faced and still face public education in the United States.
The term "systemic racism" is used a lot currently, but I hadn't read before such a good illustration of what that actually looks like in practice. Simply by describing the desegregation of the school and the 1970s "white flight" that led to de facto resegregation, the authors make devastatingly clear how structural disadvantages for black Americans built up over generations. It is easy to look at the hateful slurs used by white parents protesting desegregation in 1960 and see racism; it's more uncomfortable to realize how countless other parents and students, perhaps not out of overt racism themselves, contributed to a growing problem that spread far beyond the schools into society.
Perhaps for this reason, I found the book more absorbing the further I read. There were times, especially in the first part of the book, that I wished for more editing, but this became less of an issue as the story reached subsequent decades. Rather than take a simple position for (or against) particular institutions like the teachers' union or the school board, the authors dispassionately show what happened. As systemic racism and the growing poverty of the neighborhood were compounded by corruption by staff and at the highest levels, it was difficult not to feel that the students and their community were being robbed in many ways, let down by the very school system that was supposed to serve them all.
By the time Katrina brought all these crises to a head, and the charter school movement took off in the aftermath, it was hard not to feel that some types of radical change must be needed. Many people in New Orleans seem to have felt the same. Yet it's very much an open question how well the various changes worked, and to what extent "public" education delivered by these alternative means is truly public.
A thought-provoking, thoroughly researched book that makes the dilemma of the public schools feel personal.
The term "systemic racism" is used a lot currently, but I hadn't read before such a good illustration of what that actually looks like in practice. Simply by describing the desegregation of the school and the 1970s "white flight" that led to de facto resegregation, the authors make devastatingly clear how structural disadvantages for black Americans built up over generations. It is easy to look at the hateful slurs used by white parents protesting desegregation in 1960 and see racism; it's more uncomfortable to realize how countless other parents and students, perhaps not out of overt racism themselves, contributed to a growing problem that spread far beyond the schools into society.
Perhaps for this reason, I found the book more absorbing the further I read. There were times, especially in the first part of the book, that I wished for more editing, but this became less of an issue as the story reached subsequent decades. Rather than take a simple position for (or against) particular institutions like the teachers' union or the school board, the authors dispassionately show what happened. As systemic racism and the growing poverty of the neighborhood were compounded by corruption by staff and at the highest levels, it was difficult not to feel that the students and their community were being robbed in many ways, let down by the very school system that was supposed to serve them all.
By the time Katrina brought all these crises to a head, and the charter school movement took off in the aftermath, it was hard not to feel that some types of radical change must be needed. Many people in New Orleans seem to have felt the same. Yet it's very much an open question how well the various changes worked, and to what extent "public" education delivered by these alternative means is truly public.
A thought-provoking, thoroughly researched book that makes the dilemma of the public schools feel personal.
February 17, 2026
Carefully researched and thorough recounting of the numerous failures of the public education system in New Orleans since desegregation. A good primer for anyone interested in ed policy and/or New Orleans history
November 21, 2023
not for me! was for class, but it really give you the history of the school which is nice but not something i would read again or be interested in reading!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews