This article interrogates the workings of the Broad Superintendents Academy, as a specific illustration of the influence of venture philanthropy in American public education. It introduces the Broad Foundation's agenda for educational leadership training, foregrounding how it frames the problem of leadership and the implications of such training for critical democratic governance of educational systems. As it shapes public consciousness of the "crisis" in education, the Broad Foundation confuses an indicator of equity with the more fundamental construction of an equitable society. The Broad education agenda seeks to disenfranchise local communities by concentrating power in the hands of superintendents bent on engineering district operations to produce "results." This article argues for expanded dialogue about the implications of the Broad agenda for the field of educational leadership and the project of educating critically minded leaders. (Contains 19 notes.)