NEW ORLEANS - Big money is being spent on campaigning for seats on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education - unsalaried posts that usually draw far less attention at election time.
Candidates backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and various business interests in Saturday's elections are getting the bulk of the contributions.
Some are featured in the kind of slickly-produced commercials that usually appear in races for Congress or statewide office.
The contest is pitting moneyed interests - who like what they've been seeing as charter schools take hold in New Orleans, teacher union influence diminishes and a decade-old school accountability program is refined - against the long-formidable political muscle of teacher unions, local school administrators and other groups who say the changes have been unfair and too quickly embraced.
An example of the campaigns' financial disparity: Going into the last campaign finance reporting period, District 1 challenger Lee Barrios reported raising $1,625, including
