Objective, rigorous,
and useful research to
understand the post-Katrina
school reforms.

POLICY BRIEF
December 7, 2017

EducationResearchAllianceNOLA.org

This paper will remain under media embargo until 5 a.m. CST on Thursday, December 7, 2017.

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL
REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?
Overview

By Lindsay Bell Weixler, Tulane University,
Jane Arnold Lincove, University of Maryland - Baltimore County,
and Alica Gerry, Tulane University

In this study, we examine how the growth of charter schools in New Orleans affected pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program offerings as the school
system transitioned from a centralized school system to an almost-all-charter district. In Louisiana, charter schools can opt into offering statesubsidized pre-K for low-income and special-needs students, but the per pupil funding level is far below the average cost of educating a pre-K
student. In New Orleans’ decentralized setting, schools offering pre-K must cover this funding gap from other sources of revenue.
School districts and charter schools have different incentives for offering optional educational services, such as pre-K. In order to better
understand school-level decision making, we interviewed school leaders about their reasons for offering or not offering pre-K. We also analyzed
data from 2007 to 2015 to determine whether charter schools that offer pre-K programs gain a competitive advantage over those that do not. Our
key findings are:
• 

After the reforms, the number of schools offering pre-K and the number of schoolbased pre-K seats dropped, even after accounting for drops in kindergarten
enrollment. The decrease in seats occurred primarily in charter schools.

• 

For more detail on this analysis, see the
corresponding technical report: Weixler, Lindsay, Jane
Arnold Lincove, and Alica Gerry. “The Provision of Public
Pre-K in the Absence of Centralized School Management.”
Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, 2017.

At charter schools that continued to offer pre-K after Katrina, school leaders offered two school-centered motivations – pursuit of higher
test scores and early recruitment of families committed to sticking with the school for the long-run – in addition to more mission-focused
commitments to providing early education for the benefit of students and the community.

• 

Through analyses of student test scores from 2012 to 2015, we find that offering pre-K had no measurable effect on charter schools’ thirdgrade math or ELA test scores, potentially as a result of high student mobility between pre-K and third grade.

• 

Charter schools that offered pre-K programs saw short-term, but not long-term, enrollment benefits. On average, charter schools with
pre-K filled half of their kindergarten seats with existing pre-K students, whereas schools that did not offer these programs had to fill all
kindergarten seats with new students. However, charter schools offering pre-K did not have any advantage in persistent student enrollment
after kindergarten.

It is important to emphasize that our results do not speak to the important and cost-effective benefits of pre-K for students, as those have been
well established in prior research. Rather, the study is meant to show how charter-based reforms influence how and why pre-K and other optional
educational programs are offered in almost-all-charter systems. While we discuss below new efforts to address the shortfall of pre-K seats, our
study provides initial evidence that decentralization without offsetting financial incentives can lead to reduced investments in programs that
advance the broader social goals of public education.

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 1

 BACKGROUND
Over the past quarter century, charter schools have grown as a

In this study, we examine how the growth of charter schools in

share of publicly funded schools in the United States, particularly in

New Orleans has affected the supply of optional services, focusing

urban areas. As a result, school districts where these independently

on pre-K program offerings. We use the example of pre-K because

managed schools are prominent have become decentralized, with

existing research literature, as well as state and federal policy,

many decisions made at the school level, rather than the district

recommend pre-K as an important and cost-effective educational

level. While theory suggests that charter schools provide healthy

intervention. Preschool programs have been linked to future

competition for traditional public schools and increase school

academic gains for children, as well as other long-term benefits such

options for families, the decentralization of school districts may

as reduced criminal activity, higher educational attainment, and

affect how and whether optional services like afterschool programs,

lower dependence on public assistance. Importantly, many of the

academic enrichment, or pre-K classes are offered.

expected benefits of pre-K are realized later in life, making it a good

In a centralized school district, optional services are typically
allocated to schools and students by the district. This means that
funding, facilities, and other resources can be pooled across the
district. Pre-K or other interventions and enrichment might be
offered to selected high-need students on selected campuses, but no
matter where these children go to school, the benefits will accrue to
the district at large.

long-term investment for society. However, schools that offer pre-K
programs, though they may have immediate benefits in the form of
early recruitment of families and improved kindergarten readiness,
likely have more limited long-term benefits in a district with highly
mobile students.
Louisiana has multiple funding streams for pre-K programs. The
largest program (funding about 16,000 children statewide) is known

In a decentralized setting, decision-making and funding occur

as LA4 and provides per-pupil funding (currently $4,580) to local

at the school level. Autonomous schools, with control over their

education agencies, which apply in advance for seats for low-income

own finances and programming, are partly motivated to invest

children. The state also provides funds to districts through a block

in services that provide internal benefits to the school. If students

grant referred to as 8(g), which districts can choose to use for pre-K

can easily transfer to other schools, they might carry the benefits

programs. Finally, federal IDEA funds cover the cost of pre-K for

of a school’s investment with them, reducing the incentive for the

students with special needs. Beyond these streams, public schools

school to provide services. This issue is exacerbated by decentralized

and districts funding pre-K must use other general sources of

financing. Compared to large districts, charter school operators are

revenue, like federal Title I dollars, privately raised funds, or other

limited in their ability to leverage funds to support optional services.

local streams. The state also provides separate funding for pre-K

When we add the rigorous test-based accountability applied in many

seats in private schools and centers, but this study focuses on publicly

charter school settings, there is an additional motivation to invest

funded charter schools.

scarce resources in programs with more immediate effects on test
scores. Pre-K is one example of a program with proven long-term

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Orleans Parish School Board used

benefits for students that might not have sufficient short-term payoffs

both state and federal funding to operate early childhood programs

for schools facing accountability pressures.

with pre-K seats at most elementary schools across the city. Though

Pre-K is one example of a
program with proven longterm benefits for students that
might not have sufficient shortterm payoffs for schools facing
accountability pressures.

“

“

Orleans Parish only had about 400 state-funded pre-K seats, the
district supplemented state funds with federal Title I dollars to
operate the program, and as long as children remained in Orleans
Parish, any educational or social benefits of these investments were
realized within the school system. After Hurricane Katrina, schools
taken over by the state Recovery School District and subsequently
contracted as charter schools retained the option to offer statesubsidized pre-K seats at their school sites and had the same state
and federal funding available.

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 2

 Charter operators were not required to enroll their allocated pre-K

that have added pre-K since opening, three that discontinued their

seats, and if they chose to offer pre-K, they would need to make up the

pre-K programs, and three that never offered pre-K. Our final

funding gap within the school’s budget. With limited resources and

analyses used regression methods to estimate whether and how

pressure to improve standardized test scores, charter schools might

offering pre-K benefited schools in the short and long term.

offer pre-K only if school leaders perceive an internal benefit (e.g.,
improved test scores in later grades, increased student retention,
or fulfillment of a school’s mission to address educational inequity)
large enough to justify allocating funds to meet the funding gap. The
box below shows just how large these funding deficits can be.
Estimated Cost for
Four-Year-Old Pre-K
(One Year, One Child)

$7,700 to $11,500

We find that the number of school-based pre-K seats dropped
substantially after the post-Katrina school reforms (Figure 1).
Specifically, we compare the number of public school pre-K students

2014-15 Per-Pupil
State Subsidy for LA4
(Four-Year-Old Pre-K)
School-Level Gap to be
Covered by Other School
Funding Sources

HOW HAS THE TRANSITION FROM A CENTRALIZED SCHOOL
DISTRICT TO AN ALMOST-ALL-CHARTER SETTING
AFFECTED THE SUPPLY OF PUBLIC PRE-K PROGRAMS IN
THE CITY?

- $4,580

to the number of public school kindergartners, so we can be sure
that any changes in trends did not reflect changes in the number of
pre-K-age students.

$3,120 to $6,920

Figure 1. Pre-K seats in New Orleans’ publicly funded schools decreased after
the post-Katrina school reforms.

This study examines changes in citywide pre-K offerings from
2001 to 2015 and potential benefits to schools from offering pre-K.
Specifically, we address two main questions:
1. 

How has the transition from a centralized school district to an
almost-all-charter setting affected the supply of public pre-K
programs in New Orleans?

2. 

Do charter schools that offer pre-K programs perceive and
experience a competitive advantage over those that do not offer
pre-K?

HOW DID WE CARRY OUT THE ANALYSIS?
Note: 2006 omitted from the New Orleans line due to Hurricane Katrina.

We used two methods to answer our questions: statistical analysis
of student-level data provided by the Louisiana Department of
Education (with student names removed), and interview data we
gathered through ten case studies. In our first quantitative analysis,
we used enrollment data from 2001 to 2015 to track the number of
pre-K students enrolled in public schools in New Orleans as almost
all of the schools shifted to charter management.

Immediately prior to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans public
schools enrolled 67 pre-K students for every 100 public-school
kindergartners. In 2006, New Orleans public schools re-opened,
half under the direct control of the district or state and half
charter, with approximately 60 public school pre-K students per
100 kindergartners. As the district transitioned to an almost-allcharter system, we see a sharp decline to a low of 44 public school

We then interviewed school leaders to better understand the

pre-K seats per 100 kindergartners in 2012. Public school pre-K

motivation for charter schools to provide pre-K in this decentralized

seats remained at this level through 2014-15, and preliminary data

setting. Our sample of 10 New Orleans’ school leaders oversaw 19

indicate a similar level today. It is important to note that Figure 1

charter schools: nine that have offered pre-K since opening, four

only reflects trends in pre-K seats in publicly funded schools, not

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 3

 seats in any other sector (Head Start, private centers, etc.). However,

with kindergarten seats did offer pre-K, depending on the year. In

we find no evidence that pre-K seats in other sectors made up for the

interviews, all school leaders identified funding and classroom space

decline in public-school pre-K seats over this time period.

as obstacles to offering pre-K. Leaders of schools that did provide

policy changes, as the availability of pre-K subsidies to New
Orleans increased between 2004-05 and 2007-08, and public
pre-K expanded statewide. We also see no indication that parent
demand for pre-K programs dropped over this time period. Instead,
these results suggest that schools under charter management were
choosing not to enroll students in their allocated pre-K seats.
Figure 2 further breaks down the reduction in pre-K seats in New
Orleans by school sector. As expected, the number of pre-K students
in New Orleans schools run by the district (direct-run schools) largely
tracked kindergarten enrollment, but this is not the case with charter
schools. The drop in pre-K enrollment coincides with the expansion
of the charter sector. For example, from 2010 to 2012, the number of

pre-K in this setting cited mission-based, academic, and competitive
motivations for making the extra investment. First, leaders expected
investments in pre-K to lead to increased kindergarten readiness,
future ability to work at grade level, and higher test scores in the
third grade (the first year that student performance starts to matter

“

for charter contracts and state accountability).

Leaders of schools that did
provide pre-K in this setting
cited mission-based, academic,
and competitive motivations for
making the extra investment.

kindergarten seats in charter schools increased by over 1,000, while
the number of pre-K seats in charters remained stable. During this
period, more than 300 state-allocated pre-K seats, which could have
been filled by charter operators, were not filled.

Figure 2. As the charter sector expanded in the years following Katrina,
charter schools offered fewer pre-K seats than kindergarten seats.

“

The drop in public-school pre-K seats is not explained by state

Many school leaders also cited competitive reasons for offering
pre-K, based in beliefs that it improved kindergarten recruitment

and retention of students over time. However, leaders also
recognized the risk that their pre-K investments may benefit another
school if students choose to leave. Some schools employed specific
recruitment strategies to actively encourage pre-K families to return
for kindergarten and to enroll older siblings in the school as well.
Beyond internal academic or competitive benefits, the majority of
school leaders also discussed their pre-K programs as vital to the
school’s mission in a way that transcends costs. Without exception,
those overseeing schools with pre-K programs mentioned the
academic and socio-emotional benefits of pre-K to the students
they serve, using phrases like, “It’s good for the kids,” and, “It’s just
the right thing to do.” Five of the seven school leaders overseeing
schools with a pre-K expressed that pre-K provision was part of the
school’s mission to serve a community in need of early childhood
education options.

DO CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT OFFER PRE-K PROGRAMS
PERCEIVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OVER THOSE THAT
DO NOT OFFER PRE-K?
Although many New Orleans charter schools chose not to offer pre-K
in post-Katrina years, between 40% and 65% of charter schools

DO CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT OFFER PRE-K PROGRAMS
EXPERIENCE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OVER THOSE
THAT DO NOT OFFER PRE-K?
We find little evidence that charter schools benefit in the long run
from offering pre-K in terms of later enrollment levels and higher
third-grade scores. On average, two-thirds of pre-K students
stayed in the same charter school for kindergarten, filling half of

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 4

 the school’s kindergarten seats and keeping their per-pupil funding

Figure 3 shows that the persistence rates from kindergarten through

at their pre-K school. However, this benefit for charter schools was

third grade are actually lower for schools offering pre-K (the two

only short term, as just 40% of pre-K students remained in their

dashed lines) than those that do not (the two solid lines), and this

pre-K school through third grade.

is true regardless of whether we focus on the specific students who

To assess the long-term benefits for charter schools, we examine

attended pre-K or those who did not.

third-grade test scores and student persistence in the same

One possible reason for the lower persistence rates in pre-K schools

school from kindergarten to third grade, comparing non-selective

is that the resources necessary to fund pre-K result in funding

charter schools that offered pre-k to those that did not (see the

reductions for other programs that parents value, leading to higher

technical paper for details). These analyses follow kindergartners

rates of student exit. Alternatively, this trend could be driven by

who entered between 2009 and 2012 until they reached third

the types of schools choosing to offer pre-K. However, we find that

grade. Our analysis of third-grade test scores shows no difference

schools offering pre-K have similar average demographics and

in scores between schools that did and did not offer pre-K, even

school performance scores to schools not offering pre-K, making

when controlling for a variety of school characteristics. Students

the second explanation less likely.

who attended pre-K did slightly outperform non-pre-K students in
math, but with high student mobility, this benefit did not translate
to the school.
We also estimate the effects of offering pre-K on student retention,
comparing student persistence from kindergarten to third grade,
for charter schools with and without pre-K (Figure 3). We provide
these results for students who started kindergarten between 2009
and 2012 at schools that stayed open until those students reached
third grade.

Figure 3. Schools offering pre-K are less likely to keep students through
third grade than schools that do not offer pre-K.

LIMITATIONS
One limitation of our data is that we can only observe actual
enrollment, rather than the supply of offered seats. However, because
the state’s LA4 program requires districts and independent charters
to apply for those seats in advance, we do have a record of intended
LA4 offerings going back to 2004-05. From these data, we know that
total public school pre-K enrollment in New Orleans exceeds LA4
offerings in every year.
Our interviews with school leaders revealed confidence in our finding
that demand exceeds supply. While one possible explanation for the
decline in school-based pre-K seats is an increase in the number of
seats being offered in non-school-based programs (i.e., Head Start
and publicly funded seats in private centers), our data show that this is
not the case. We cannot completely rule out that families in the postKatrina period were less likely to want their children in school-based
pre-K, but this combination of evidence makes that interpretation
unlikely.
In estimating the benefits that accrue to schools as a result of offering
pre-K, we are also limited in that we can estimate associations but not
causality. Because students sort into pre-K non-randomly and schools
also choose to provide pre-K non-randomly, our results should not be
interpreted as the effects of pre-K programs on students or schools.
While our analysis suggests that the above results are probably
driven by the pre-K program itself, it could be that the patterns we

Note: Our models can predict the likelihood of persistence vs. exit for students with
similar characteristics. Here, we estimate likelihoods for a black, male, FRPL-eligible
student who is neither designated for special education services nor gifted. A “pre-K
student” attended pre-K at any publicly funded school in Louisiana. A “pre-K school”
offered a pre-K classroom in the year prior to the student’s kindergarten year.

are observing reflect the characteristics of schools that choose to offer
pre-K.

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 5

 DISCUSSION
We conclude that New Orleans’ transition to an almost-all-charter

to address the problem of school-based pre-K incentives, and as of

school district resulted in a substantial reduction in school-based

2017, there were still only 44 school-based pre-K seats for every 100

pre-K in the city. Our results suggest that insufficient incentives are

kindergartners in New Orleans.

in place for schools to invest their funds in pre-K in this decentralized
setting of highly mobile students. Though charter schools see an initial
benefit in reduced need to recruit new kindergartners, high student
mobility prevents them from keeping their pre-K students in the long
term. Moreover, test-based accountability places strong pressure on
charter schools to perform and, while there are signs pre-K improves
student academic performance, any benefits to schools’ test scores are
delayed until students reach third grade and may be diminished at
the school level if schools do not retain their pre-K students.
This study is not meant to examine whether or how any other sectors
have made efforts to make up for the loss in public-school pre-K seats
from 2010-2012. We do know that four-year-old Head Start seats
increased over this time period, though the increase did not offset the
loss in school-based pre-K seats relative to the population increase.
Policymakers are working to improve the public pre-K system
throughout the state. The Louisiana legislature passed Act 3 of
2012, which requires centralized oversight of all publicly funded
early childhood education programs, including school-based pre-K,
Head Start, and private schools and centers receiving public funds.
As a result, the New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN)
was established in 2013 to coordinate the city’s publicly funded early
care and education programs. Though these efforts improve aspects
of the public early childhood education system, they are not meant

The recentralization of some educational services has been an
important part of the evolution of school reform in New Orleans.
Initial problems with the decentralization of authority over student
enrollment, truancy prevention, student expulsions, and dropout
recovery led to reforms that brought authority back to the district
level. In these cases, recentralization was implemented to improve
delivery and equity. If policymakers want to increase school-based
pre-K seats, more centralized oversight might be necessary in this
case as well.
Although our study focuses on pre-K only, this is just one of many
examples of optional services where proven benefits occur for
students, families, and communities but may be difficult to observe at
the school level. Other beneficial services, like afterschool programs,
enrichment, and adult education, might be at even greater risk in a
decentralized system.
The New Orleans experience suggests that policymakers must
consider how and where decentralization might lead to the
reduction or elimination of services that provide benefits beyond the
immediate school setting. Our study provides initial evidence that
decentralization without offsetting financial incentives can lead to
reduced investments in programs that advance the broader social
goals of public education.

How is this Research Related to Other ERA-New Orleans Studies?
This report is the first in a long series on the intersection of school reform

This report is also an example of the broader challenge of carrying out

and early childhood education. In our ongoing work, we are examining

activities that require system-level coordination within a decentralized

the new centralized enrollment system for early childhood education

school system. In another report, we provide a more general discussion of

programs, including how parents choose among early childhood

systemwide problems that are likely to require more centralized solutions.

programs, how available quality ratings influence parents’ preferences,

The report also describes some of the efforts the state has taken in areas

and how to support parents through the application process. We are

like student enrollment, truancy, drop out, and teacher supply.

also exploring ways to measure the impact of program attendance on
children’s short- and long-term outcomes.

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

PAGE 6

 About the Education Research
Alliance for New Orleans
The mission of the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans
(ERA-New Orleans) is to produce rigorous, objective, and useful
research to understand the post-Katrina school reforms and their
long-term effects on all students. Based at Tulane University, ERANew Orleans is a partnership between university-based researchers
and a broad spectrum of local education groups. Our Advisory

About the Authors
Lindsay Bell Weixler
Lindsay Bell Weixler is Associate Director and Senior Research
Fellow at Tulane’s Education Research Alliance for New Orleans.
She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and a master’s
degree in statistics from the University of Michigan.

Board includes (in alphabetical order): the Louisiana Association of

Jane Arnold Lincove

Educators, the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, the

Jane Arnold Lincove is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at

Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the Louisiana Recovery School

the University of Maryland - Baltimore County and a Non-Resident

District, New Orleans Parents’ Guide, New Schools for New Orleans,

Research Fellow at Tulane’s Education Research Alliance for New

the Orleans Parish School Board, the Orleans Public Education

Orleans.

Network, and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. For more
information, please visit the organization’s website.

Alica Gerry
Alica Gerry is a Scientific Research Analyst at the Education
Research Alliance for New Orleans at Tulane University. She holds a

EducationResearchAllianceNOLA.org

master’s degree in public policy from the Humphrey School of Public
Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Contact Information
1555 Poydras Street
7th Floor, Room # 701
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 274-3617
ERANewOrleans@gmail.com

An Initiative of

HOW HAVE NEW ORLEANS’ CHARTER-BASED SCHOOL REFORMS AFFECTED PRE-KINDERGARTEN?

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