New Orleans Superintendent gains powers but opposition intensifies.

New Orleans Superintendent Anthony Amato got a boost from the Louisiana state legislature in his efforts to turn around the embattled district that has been plagued by low test scores and charges of financial malfeasance.

In lieu of the state taking control of the school board, state lawmakers-in June passed a bill giving Amato the power to hire, fire and execute contracts without school board approval. But the bill Jeff some school board members seeking his ouster instead and threatening to challenge the new law in court.

Amato moved quickly on his new powers. suspending his deputy superintendent Kennedy Khabo in July, The suspension comes on the heels of an FBI investigation and the arrest of nine school system employees. But his actions and new power over daily operations of the district has prompted opposition from some school board members, who called an emergency meeting to discuss his performance as superintendent.

School board members Jimmy Fahrenholtz and Una Anderson, Amato supporters, filed a lawsuit and obtained an injunction against his firing at the hastily called June session The school board then rejected a proposal to settle the lawsuit by dropping a clause in Amato's contract that would have allowed the board to fire him without reason and by a simple majority vote, Amato says that despite the opposition, he will continue to work for change and is heartened by the support he has received from the community.

Stephanie Desselle, vice president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, says Amato has a tough road ahead. "If the superintendent is truly allowed to do what he thinks is best and makes some good academic, policy, personnel and budget decisions without interference he may have a chance," she says. "But it will take years."