Last month, the first annual John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards were given by the Institute of Politics and the Kennedy Library Foundation. The groups came together to present the awards to honor Americans under 40 who have committed their lives to public service. Two people, and just one elected official, Louisiana State Representative Karen Carter, received the award.
Carter, who represents New Orleans' French Quarter and parts of the city's central Business District and lower Garden District, first took office in 2000. It was during the hot Louisiana summer of 2004, however, when Carter faced one of the biggest challenges of her careers as a legislator. Carter authored and eventually passed into law significant reforms aimed at fixing New Orleans's failing public schools.
Under statewide accountability measures Orleans Parish had a stunning 54 schools -- about half of those in the district -- deemed "academically unacceptable" last year. In recent years, it had been difficult for policymakers to make significant reforms while the local board was plagued by chronic financial mismanagement, foundering test scores, and personal political infighting. Carter hoped to change that equation. Her bill, now law, qualified the New Orleans School District as "academically in crisis" and triggered a transfer of much power from the long ineffectual school board to the local superintendent.
The initiative -- which earned the support of local businesses, community and parents groups, as well the recently-elected Governor Kathleen Blanco -- values accountability. Ultimately, the buck now stops with superintendent Tom Amato when it comes to entering into contracts and the hiring and firing of people in the school system. He also has to answer for low test scores and make the district's financial dealings open to the public. Under the new law, Amato will have to implement a "system improvement plan" that includes measurable goals and priorities for "instructional, organizational and budgetary changes." He will then have to report on that progress quarterly.
"The status quo is something that is unacceptable," Carter said about the new law. "While I'm not sure this is the answer, I'm sure it is part of the solution."
Carter, 35, has become a respected lawmaker during her career in the Louisiana State House, having been named "Rookie of the Year" by her colleagues while in her first term. She has championed welfare reform by easing recipients' transition from welfare to work and giving them opportunities to become self-suffiencient.
Last session, Carter stepped up as the House Insurance Committee's Chair. In addition to her success on behalf of the New Orleans' school system, Carter also helped create Louisiana's Equal Pay Commission. The group will study and work to improve the wage disparities that exist between men and women and minorities and non-minorities in the state. And she was instrumental in leading the push to support LaChoice, a pilot program aimed at helping small employers offer health insurance for low-income workers.
Carter's work acknowledges that new reforms often require transcending old boundaries. So too does the inscription of her recent award, with a quote from John F. Kennedy: "We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier. I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision."
