Terry Moe on Educational Reform, Katrina, and Hidden Power

Terry Moe talks about his book The Politics of Institutional Reform with host Russ Roberts. He explores educational reform in New Orleans public schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. When policy-makers turned to charter schools for pragmatic reasons, students enjoyed dramatic improvements in educational outcomes as a result. Moe uses this experience to draw lessons about political reforms generally and the power of vested interests to preserve the status quo in the absence of catastrophic events like Katrina.