Hurricane Katrina’s sixth anniversary passed this week. At a commemorative conference held at the University of New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that changes in the city’s education system have led to increased test scores and a narrowing of the achievement gap. “Collectively, we as a people have found a way to begin major systemic change,” he said.

Since May, the leader of the Recovery School District, the state agency that now runs most New Orleans schools, has been John White, a 35-year-old Teach for America alum who had been serving as a deputy chancellor in New York City.

In a new article from the fall issue of Education Next, Peter Meyer profiles John White. Please read “The New Superintendent of Schools for New Orleans.”

You can hear an interview Peter did with White just before he started his new job here.

P.S. White is scheduled to release a strategic plan for the district on Tuesday.