








...] Part V explores the political lessons other school districts and states can learn from the New Orleans experience, particularly as it relates to state takeover, charter schools, and school choice plans. The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), the entity in control of New Orleans public schools prior to the storm, was plagued by corruption and financial mismanagement.12 Prior to the hurricane the district was officially bankrupt, with over $265 million in debt.13 Corruption had become so rampant that the FBI set up a task force housed in the district headquarters which led to dozens of criminal indictments.14 The OPSB was racially polarized and appeared more concerned about who controlled supplier contracts and the union contract than the well-being of children.'5 There was also a leadership void, as the OPSB ran through eight superintendents between 1998 and 2005. ' The high turnover rate was due, in part, to the high level of friction between the superintendents and the highly active and controlling OPSB, infamous for its micromanagement of the system.17 Based on this dismal record of academic performance and entrenched financial mismanagement and graft, the public and state legislators lost confidence in the OPSB 's ability to run the schools.
