Nine months after Hurricane Katrina crippled the New Orleans school district, two distinct systems of public schools are slowly emerging in the city. The highly unusual arrangement is fraught with questions, from the small--What should we call it?--to the large--Will it work? Where there once was a traditionally governed district, there now is a duality: The local school board oversees some schools, but the state of Louisiana is in charge of most. The vast majority of the schools in New Orleans are charter schools. This month, the state must outline for the Louisiana board of education how it will run its share of the city's schools. With state and local systems running side by side--and so many charters wielding their signature autonomy--those rebuilding schooling in New Orleans question whether the term "school system" still makes sense. Whatever people call it, many see the new landscape as both a chance for improvement and an experiment that risks failing just when New Orleans schoolchildren need success the most.