Clark High School is in New Orleans’ BW Cooper neighborhood, on the edge of the flooding and a few blocks from the Superdome. Before it re-opened in April 2006, the Federal Emergency Management Agency made Clark throw away all of its library books, which were contaminated with mold. In mid-October, the new books still had not arrived. They didn’t have many textbooks, either. But they do have internet access.

“Logistics are a big issue right now in New Orleans,” says Luis Miron, professor of educational policy studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “Most of the schools are waiting for books. Textbook suppliers did not anticipate the demand, so students are working without materials.” Digital delivery of classroom materials could solve this problem and create a new model in New Orleans. But providers need to move fast if they want to help.

A total of 53 schools are open in New Orleans this year, says Miron. Thirty-one of these are “charter schools” that operate independently from local boards and are run by school-board-approved community groups. Charter schools set their own courses, activities and rules, and they hire their own teachers. Clark and 16 other schools are part of the “Recovery School District,” which is operated by the state. Only five schools are operated by the New Orleans School District. The disaster has created an unprecedented experiment in public school administration as principals and teachers scramble to meet students’ needs.

WDSU-TV, Channel 6 in New Orleans, is currently running a series of detailed profiles of every school in the Recovery District. The videos talk about book shortages, bathrooms that don’t work, and other shortcomings, but they also indicate that things are improving. Clark High Principal Charles Michel reports that the school has Internet connectivity. The students’ biggest complaint is the sandwiches they get for lunch – they are sometimes frozen — but Michel says they’ll be able to serve hot food as soon as the refrigerators get hooked up. He expects the refrigerator people to show up any day now. The textbooks could take a year.