The Lusher Charter School in Uptown New Orleans is one of the most sought-after public schools in the city, with applications often outnumbering available slots at the selective-admission school. It also bears the name of Robert Mills Lusher, a tax collector for the Confederacy and education superintendent for Louisiana who professed a belief in the "supremacy of the Caucasian race."
When the Orleans Parish School Board voted in 2021 to rename schools that were named after slave owners, white supremacists, and Confederate officials, it remained up to individual charter operators to decide whether or not to rename their respective schools. After a series of meetings that weren't always without controversy, charter officials have chosen "The Willow School" as its new name.
Lusher's elementary campus is on Willow Street. In 2006, it opened a high school on the former Alceer Fortier campus on Freret Street.
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