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Living C
Money C-12
People A-17
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AL COPELAND
Net worth was
estimated at $319 million
in 2004, and annual
earnings at $13 million
LUANN HUNTER
Ex-wife would like
Copeland to pay as much
as $191,621 per month
to support their son
No chicken feed
Copeland child support case
is more Park Avenue
than Popeyes

By Meghan Gordon
West Bank bureau
Twice yearly trips to the Bahamas, vacations
three times a year to Las Vegas and Los Angeles,
one outing to New York on a whim, just to see
snow and shop.
Chartered limousine buses whisking class-
mates across Lake Pontchartrain to see Christ-
mas lights.
And at home, a cortege of housekeepers,
nurses, secretaries, security guards, a barber
even a mechanic to fix broken toys.
Al Copeland spared little of his phenomenal re-
sources on the sole child of his third marriage, ac-
cording to ex-wife Luan Hunter. But in a January
court filing laying out these lavish details of their
sons privileged childhood, Hunter said the flam-
boyant multimillionaire should be shelling out
comparable money to her, so that she could treat
their son, now 8, to similar luxuries when he
spends time with his mother.
Public schools
compete for kids
STAFF PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER
Ray Nichols, board president for Priestley School of Architecture and Construction, sticks a sign in the
neutral ground Friday at Canal and Broad streets. Principal Michelle Biagas, left center, and school man-
ager Alisha Dean, far left, also joined the ranks of school promoters.

New array of choices

gives parents power

By Steve Ritea
Staff writer
Parents trying to maneuver
the maze of public schools in post-
Katrina New Orleans would do
well to start with a new premise:
Think of yourselves as consumers
in a brand new marketplace.
Thats what state and charter
school officials are saying as they
now jockey for students just as
most schools prepare to open. The
citys pre-Katrina public schools
were kind of like the restaurant
that everyones forced to go to
and still it gets worse and worse
and worse, said James Huger, a
real estate developer who is lead-
ing a private group setting up one
of the ci ty s 28 new charter
schools. In a real society, theres
not too many bad restaurants that
stay in business.
Now, there wont be many bad
schools that stay in business ei-
ther, he said.
Its not surprising, then, that
new schools on the scene have
started aggressive marketing
campaigns that include spending
thousands of dollars in newspaper
and radio ads, resembling the an-
nual competition private schools
face to attract students. Card-
board signs typically staked along
streets by contractors and busi-
nesses now also encourage dri-
vers to consider enrolling their
child at Lafayette Academy, the
Priestley School of Architecture
and Construction, Warren Easton
Charter High or any number of
Nicole McCaskill, left, fills out paperwork to register her children,
Nicholas McCaskill, 7, and Brienell Collins, 4, for Lafayette School on
Carrollton Avenue. Alison Althaus, right, recently moved from
Wisconsin to start a new job as a teaching assistant at the school.
See SCHOOLS, A-10
AP PHOTO
U.S. Secre-
tary of State
Condoleezza
Rice votes
on a resolu-
tion Friday
that expands
the U.N.
peacekeep-
ing force to
15,000 and
dispatches
it into
southern
Lebanon.
CATCH THE SAINTS TONIGHT AT 7 ON AND
CST UPN54
HOMEOWNERS GET MORE TIME TO FILE
LAWSUITS FOR STORM DAMAGES MONEY, C-12
See COPELAND, A-8
t
50 CENTS NEW ORLEANS EDITION S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 1 2 , 2 0 0 6
A/B
170th year No. 203
Chef
landfill
to keep
taking
debris
DEQ says letter from
Nagin gives the OK
By Gordon Russell
Staff writer
In the latest twist in a contro-
versy full of them, the Chef
Menteur landfill in eastern New
Orleans apparently will remain
open next week as a result of a
letter the Nagin administration
sent to state
r e g u l a t o r s
Thursday, say-
ing the may-
ors refusal to
renew a zon-
ing waiver for
t he l andf i l l
should not be
interpreted as
opposition
to the facility.
Howe v e r,
t h e ma t t e r
ma y be f ar
from over, as at least three law-
suits are pending in various
courts, including challenges
from environmentalists and res-
idents of the nearby Village de
lEst neighborhood.
Meanwhile, officials in Na-
See LANDFILL, A-6
Mayor Ray
Nagin
Will not say
whether he
wants landfill
open or closed
Family-friendly
eastern N.O. seen
Its Friday
the 13th
for Rep.
Jefferson
By Leslie Williams
Staff writer
In a Katrina recovery plan to be unveiled today,
a tattered and torn eastern New Orleans that
soaked in floodwaters for weeks would arise as a
land of bicycle paths, lush landscaping and vibrant
neighborhoods with a resurrected Lincoln Beach,
a family entertainment district and a pedestrian-
friendly town center for upscale shopping.
The plan, which will be presented today for
public review and feedback, advocates restrictions
on dense apartment complexes, construction of
three lengthy bicycle paths, and replacing The
Lake Forest Plaza with a town center offering
See PLAN, A-9
Bakers dozen file
for 2nd District race
By Jan Moller
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE With U.S. Rep.
William Jeffersons political fu-
ture clouded by a federal brib-
ery investigation, a dozen candi-
dates lined up to challenge the
eight-term New Orleans Demo-
crat during a three-day qualify-
ing period that ended Friday.
State Rep. Karen Carter, D-
New Orleans, was among six
challengers who filed to run
against Jefferson on Friday, the
last day that candidates could
qualify for the Nov. 7 congres-
sional elections and the Sept. 30
statewide ballot.
That brought to 13 the num-
ber of candidates vying for the
2nd District seat and marks the
first time Jefferson has faced
serious opposition since he be-
came the first black congress-
man from Louisiana since Re-
construction.
Other major challengers in-
See QUALIFY, A-6
Security Council passes plan
to end warfare in Lebanon
Toll talk comes
to screeching halt
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE Under heavy fire for her admin-
istrations proposal to put tolls on 400 miles of In-
terstates 10 and 12, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Fri-
day that any such plan is dead on arrival.
In remarks to the Louisiana Municipal Associ-
ations 69th annual meeting, Blanco said: I no
more want tolls on I-10 and I-12 than I want a
hurricane. . . . I want to assure the people of Loui-
siana that my administration has no plans to es-
tablish a toll on Interstates 10 and 12. It is not
going to happen.
After the speech, however, Blanco refused to
say whether she had instructed Department of
Transportation and Development Secretary
See TOLLS, A-9
By Warren Hoge
and Steven Erlanger
2006, The New York Times
UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council
agreed unanimously Friday on a measure calling
for a full cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, de-
ploying 30,000 Lebanese and U.N. forces in south-
ern Lebanon and calling upon Israel to withdraw
its forces in parallel.
After rejecting earlier versions, Prime Min-
ister Ehud Olmert of Israel accepted the resolu-
tion. But under a deal an Israeli official said was
approved by the United States, Olmert will wait
until Sunday to obtain his Cabinets approval. Un-
See MIDEAST, A-12
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I Complete list of all qualifiers,
A-6
A-10 SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2006 THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
C O N T I N U E D
..
.
Pulpits pounded; fliers and signs put up
SCHOOLS, from A-1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
other campuses actively recruit-
ing.
Private and parochial school
officials are taking notice, say-
ing they wont be surprised if
their enrollment drops a bit
should parents learn that a free,
quality education has become
available. Parents willing to do
their homework researching
schools, state and charter offi-
cials say, will end up getting
their children into the best ones.
Wanted: students
The new schools have an ur-
gent incentive to lure students,
as most need a respectable
number of pupils in order to
stay afloat.
Priestley Principal Michelle
Biagas said her school, which as
of Friday had enrolled only 20
students, needs to get a lot
closer to 100 or it might not be
able to open. Shes optimistic
itll get enough before it is
scheduled to begin classes in
about four weeks.
We didnt go into this with
the mindset that we were going
to compete, but the reality is
that everyone needs students in-
side their building to make their
program run and get the fund-
ing they need for their stu-
dents, Biagas said.
With seven public schools al-
ready open in New Orleans and
49 more scheduled to open by
September, up to 34,000 stu-
dents are projected to attend a
combination of charters, tradi-
tional district schools and other
campuses operated by a state-
run Recovery School District,
which took over most of the lo-
cal schools in November. Exac-
tly how many students actually
will return is anyones guess,
however.
Traditional schools are not
worried, especially those that
were open long enough last year
to garner a slate of returning
students. Enrollment is already
near 90 percent at the five
schools still operated by the old
system, New Orleans Public
Schools. The Recovery School
District, meanwhile, is only
seeking to fill in the gaps, mak-
ing sure each area of the city
has enough schools, but does not
pl an on openi ng any more
schools than needed.
But nearly a dozen charter
schools are opening for the first
time ever. At the same time,
many public schools that con-
verted to charters after Katrina
are about to reopen for the first
time since the storm. Not being
open last year cost them many
of the students they had pre-
Katrina who might have other-
wise returned. Now, they, too,
must work on attracting new
students.
Aggressive advertising
Warren Easton Charter
High, a high-performing school
before the storm thats making
its post-Katrina debut as a char-
ter in a few weeks, recently
started putting out signs of its
own. School officials said that
even though the schools reputa-
tion is already well-established,
it needed to make sure enough
students know its back.
I love the word competi-
tion, said Arthur Hardy, vice
president of Eastons board but
perhaps best known for the Car-
nival guide he publishes each
year. Were all competing for
students and teachers. Parents
have never had more or better
choices.
As in many other areas, com-
petition in education will yield
better school s, some sai d.
Huger, chairman of the board of
the soon-to-debut Lafayette
Academy, an open-admission
publ ic charter school, said
school choice is destined to force
accountability onto a public sys-
tem where schools must thrive
to survive.
Did any principal pre-Ka-
trina ever wake up worried
about if they were going to meet
enrollment or whether their ex-
penses were too high? he said.
They were never empowered
with consequences. Its that
very force that inspires people
to strive for excellence. If you
have choi ce and you al l ow
schools to fail, thats not a bad
thing, because then consumers
choose the ones that wont fail.
Even though Priestleys en-
rollment has yet to reach a com-
fortable level, Biagas said the
four weeks left before Priestley
opens give the school a chance
to tout what she said is some-
thing unique in the city: an em-
phasis on construction and ar-
chitecture careers.
Still, when youre a new
school like Priestley, you have to
get your name out there, said
school spokeswoman Vanessa
Adams, who has helped put up
more than 150 signs advertising
the school.
They ve also dropped off
stacks of their fliers at Lusher,
a high-performing charter that
reopened last year, so staff
there can suggest Priestley to
parents theyve been turning
away.
The schools marketing effort
doesnt end with signs.
Successful efforts
Lafayette Academy has an
outreach budget of $30,000
money thats been spent on ra-
dio and print advertising as well
as a direct mail campaign,
Huger said. So far, its been
paying off, with children already
signed up for 650 of the 750
spots at the school.
The school has also identified
hundreds of churches across
New Orleans and visited with
dozens of local ministers, asking
them to pass information about
Lafayette Academy along to
their parishioners.
Their methods are hardly
unique.
Brian Riedlinger, the Algiers
Charter Schools Associations
chief executive officer, has spent
his share of Sundays visiting
churches on the citys West
Bank, making the most of the
five minutes various ministers
have offered him in the pulpit to
preach the virtues of the district
schools the association has
transformed into charters.
Last month, Riedlinger and
his staff got a bit nervous, how-
ever, when enrollment for their
seventh school this year, Tub-
man Elementary, seemed thin.
Our calculation is if you dont
have 400 kids, I dont know how
you make it work, he said.
Youre going to have trouble
paying your bills.
So they got aggressive.
We put signs up all over Al-
giers, we sent postcards home
to kids urging them to tell their
friends about registration, we
bought radio and we were on
TV a number of times, he said.
Nearly 300 children showed
up when Tubman opened its
doors Monday and, with prekin-
dergarten starting next week
and 100 other registered stu-
dents who have yet to show up,
Riedlinger is starting to breathe
easier.
Still, he knows Tubman is not
entirely in the clear and
shares an uneasiness about en-
rollment with many of the citys
new public schools.
There might be some rude
awakenings for schools when
kids actually show up, or dont
show up, Riedlinger said.
He said the competition for
students will truly produce bet-
ter schools only if parents be-
have like shrewd consumers and
exercise true choice, he said.
Parental involvement
There are parents who are
engaged in really looking for a
school, Riedlinger said. But
there are other parents who
dont pay that kind of attention,
who send their kids wherever
theres room, and that could be
a problem.
There are signs that many
parents have not tuned in yet. A
student recruiting fair at the
New Orleans Arena last week-
end gathered representatives
from nearly every school, but
only a few hundred parents
showed up.
Parents who attended the
fair, however, seemed to be
catching on to the idea of think-
ing of the ci ty s educati on
landscape as a market.
I m shoppi ng, parent
Christine Lyons said last week-
end as she pored over a pam-
phlet promoting New Orleans
Free School.
Leslie Jacobs of the state
Board of Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education said shes
confident that more parents will
soon discover they have a right
to demand good public schools
or they can vote with their
feet by going somewhere else.
I think over time, as people
adjust to the system, more and
more parents are going to begin
to choose, she said. I dont
think every single parent is
going to be engaged and exer-
cise their choice, but I think we
should give every parent the
right to exercise that choice.
And it is going to empower a lot
of parents who didnt feel em-
powered before. That will force
schools to see parents and stu-
dents as their customers.
Once that happens, its going
to change the New Orleans
school system, said Skipper
Bond, a spokesman for La-
fayette Academy. These kids
are going to get a private school
education for free.
Private, parochial and Catho-
lic schools could begin losing
some students if quality finally
appears in more of the citys
public schools, said the Rev.
William Maestri, superintendent
of Catholic schools. But Maestri
says hes not worried, since
Catholic schools, like most pri-
vate institutions in the city, offer
something public schools can-
not: a religious component.
But however you look at it,
better public schools benefit ev-
eryone, Maestri said.
We in the archdiocese sup-
port and want educational excel-
lence offered to all of our child-
ren, he said. We do not rejoice
in poor public schools.

Steve Ritea can be reached at
sritea@timespicayune.com or by calling
(504) 826-3396.
3 U.S. soldiers are killed in Afghanistan
By Carlotta Gall
2006, The New York Times
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN Three
U.S. soldiers and a NATO sol-
dier were killed Friday in two
separate attacks, as operations
continued against the Taliban
and other militants, military of-
ficials said.
The three Americans were
killed in an attack by insurgents
in the far northeast part of Afg-
hanistan, where troops of the
U.S.-led coalition have moved to
establish a stronger presence
along the mountainous border
area adjoining Pakistan. Two
other Americans were wounded.
U.S. forces in the northeast
have encountered fierce resis-
tance since moving into Nuris-
tan province to establish perma-
nent bases for the first time.
The other attack, a suicide
bombing that took the life of a
NATO soldier, happened in the
southern province of Kandahar,
which has been a frequent tar-
get for suicide bombers in the
past 10 months.
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