This article explores the documented degree of the destruction triggered by Hurricane Katrina, the impact on the Orleans Parish School District (OPSD), and the efforts that have been made to recover, rebuild, and reopen the public schools. Using a framework that examines historical inequalities and long-term neglect of OPSD schools pre-Katrina, the author assesses whether or not current attempts to rebuild a new school system for New Orleans's students is constrained by a heritage of racial inequality in Louisiana. The author contends that the manner in which the school recovery efforts are currently developing, with its emphasis on a market-based privatization ideology, does not engender hope for a new and improved system that will produce a socially just and equitable schooling experience for its predominately African American and poor students.