ABSTRACT
The author maps key facets of the elite network of policy actors that have made New Orleans the nation's first all-charter school district. Whitman (2008) applauds the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a national charter school network, for its rigid disciplinary structure and alleged benefits for children of color. New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) initially received $500,000 in seed money from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which connects philanthropic donors with local organizations. New approaches to public policy issues such as enhanced choice in public school education should be the norm. Veteran teachers, mostly African American, were terminated en masse and replaced by largely white, transient, inexperienced recruits from beyond the city. It is no small irony to characterize Mos Def's song as gangsta rap or black students in New Orleans as gangstas in need of discipline and redemption.
