Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) is an agreement between the Government of Canada and approximately 86,000 Native Canadians who at some point were enrolled as children in the Canadian Indian residential school system, a system which was in place between 1879 and 1996. The IRSSA recognized the damage inflicted by the residential schools and established a $2 billion compensation package for all former IRS students and, in particular, those who had been abused or otherwise harmed. The agreement, announced in 2006, was the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. As of December 2012 a total of $1.62 billion has been paid to 78,750 former students.
Recovery School District
In the face of uncertainties about the future of schools in the city, the Louisiana Legislature acted by passing Act 35. Eventually, the Recovery School District (RSD) took over 102 out of 126 schools from the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) in late-November 2005. Of the remaining 24 schools, seven were uninhabitable, 12 became charters, and five remained directly managed by OPSB.Though enrollment has been steadily increasing, student enrollment in New Orleans is still only about 70% of pre-katrina levels.Since January 2012, the Recovery School District has been led by Patrick Dobard, former deputy superintendent for the Recovery School District. In his previous position, Dobard oversaw all community engagement and outreach activities, as well as establishing and implementing education policy for the Recovery School District (RSD).