Teachers skip classes on make-up days

NEW ORLEANS -- About 28 percent of New Orleans public school teachers played hooky Friday, a slight improvement over the 31 percent who skipped on Thursday.

Both days were make-up days for classes canceled in late September and early October, when Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili swamped the city. Half of the city's public school students skipped on Thursday, and 52 percent skipped on Friday, the school board said.

The number of absent students was about the same as it was on the district's first storm makeup day, Nov. 25, a part of the usual Thanksgiving holiday.

But teacher absenteeism this week was up sharply from the 85 percent of teachers who went to work on the November make-up day.

Teachers union officials blamed at least part of the problem on the Orleans Parish School Board, saying the board created confusion by initially saying that Thursday would not be a makeup day. The board later added scheduled classes on Thursday so the day after Mardi Gras, March 5, could be turned into a holiday.

The make-up days were inserted into the schedule because the Legislature requires 177 school days for a full year.

"Some people had already adjusted their schedules and made plans they couldn't change," said Brenda Mitchell, president of the United Teachers of New Orleans.