School ruined by Katrina languishes in red tape All Editions

• Published in: The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
• Main Author: JOHN MORENO GONZALES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bergen County, N.J North Jersey Media Group Inc 27.09.2007

"People look at Louisiana and say, 'Where is all the rebuilding? How come all the money hasn't been spent?' And the money's been spent building mountains of paper," said Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). "There could be a catastrophic earthquake in California. There could be other unforeseen disasters, and terrorist attacks," he said. "And the focus should be on providing the money to get public services restored. But what we've got is a system where we have thousands of federal, state, local and contract employees exchanging paperwork before the first nail can be hammered." "It's just ridiculous. There's already been so much time wasted," said Patricia Jones, executive director of the Lower Ninth Ward's Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association. "If you bring a school back, the people will come back. If you can get a quality education in your neighborhood, the houses will be filled."