If you listen to national anti-reform activists you might assume that all education workers that came to rebuild public education in New Orleans were opportunistic carpet baggers seizing on a profitable opportunity. That is an unfortunate narrative that insults the hard work done by earnest people who came to New Orleans like many Americans, to help. Pete Cook is one of those people. He moved to New Orleans in 2002 (before the devastation of Katrina) to teach at John McDonough High School when it was deeply troubled. We talk to him about the educational triage work he did with other education workers after Katrina. Pete in addition to teaching in New Orleans before Katrina, he also worked for KIPP New Orleans, the Recovery School District, and Mass Insight.

Chris Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer of Education Post, a media project of the Results in Education Foundation. He is a lifelong activist and 20-year supporter of nonprofit and education-related causes. Stewart has served as the director of outreach and external affairs for Education Post, the executive director of the African American Leadership Forum (AALF), and an elected member of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education.

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