With a nearly 100% charter operated school system, New Orleans is a model for the market-based charter reform movement in the US. After Hurricane Katrina, the state legislature significantly expanded the definition of a failing school thereby transferring the majority of Orleans Parish schools to the control of the state-run Recovery School District. Since 2005, the RSD has withdrawn from operating direct-run schools and has turned over the daily management and oversight of public schools to independent charter operators. In the wake of such drastic changes in the school landscape, schools in New Orleans continue to be academically, racially, and socioeconomically stratified. This qualitative study documents the lived experiences of students, educators, and community members in the hierarchically tiered system of schools. I employ an analytic lens that examines the perceived effects of stratification through the analysis of school demographics, academic programming, discipline practices, and enrollment policies and practices within the context of school choice in an accountability system hinged on state-testing. Based on participant responses, the system is set up in such a way that a student's academic and demographic characteristics predict the range of school options available and the corresponding academic and social experiences he/she is likely to have in school. Findings indicate that students who enter schools with lower or fewer academic skills are likely to experience a more stringent disciplinary atmosphere and a more narrow curriculum; whereas, students who enter school more academically advanced are likely to experience more academic and social freedoms in school. As a result, students are segregated from one another in a form of city-wide ability tracking where schools are organized and managed in direct relation to the student population they serve thereby reproducing social stratification and inequity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]