State Vows to Fix Finances in New Orleans

La. Schools Chief Crafts Agreement to Address Audit of Title I Spending

In the wake of a audit raising questions about the New Orleans school district’s spending of some $70 million in federal money, Louisiana’s top education official is considering putting outside consultants in charge of the district’s finances.

Cecil J. Picard, the state superintendent of education, warned last week that federal officials have told him they could withhold future Title I funding for the 70,000-student system unless its financial operations are overhauled. The step by the U.S. Department of Education apparently would be unprecedented.

“I got the message that we’ve got to address this problem, and we’ve got to do it much sooner rather than later,” Mr. Picard said in...