From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is Reveal.

I'm Alex.

Bethany Gonski knows what it's like to rebuild after Hurricane shuts you down.

I remember coming in and everything just covered with slime.

I felt more like a general contractor than a principal.

She's the principal of St. John Lutheran Elementary, a private religious school in New Orleans.

It's been around since the 1800s, but 14 years ago, the school building, along with

much in New Orleans, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

So she had to start from scratch.

Walking into the first grade classroom and all their little paperback books had swollen

up with water.

I remember it chaired that had floated, just kind of tilted and balanced precariously on

a shelf in the library.

It was the bottom floor was just total destruction.

It turns out total destruction was not her biggest problem.

Volunteers restored the building by the next school year, but the students had disappeared.

They spread across the country after Katrina.

We did have one little boy who was in pre-K, came back when we reopened.

The first year back, St. John Lutheran had just nine students, then a politician dangled

an opportunity.

This is about making sure that every mom and every dad has the chance to make the decision

about where their children get to get their education.

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