Campaigns for state school board are typically quiet affairs, eliciting only modest interest from the public and even less from political donors. But the race last fall for the District 2 seat on Louisiana's board of elementary and secondary education was a remarkable exception. The contest attracted the attention of education activists and politically connected individuals around the country--and it unleashed a torrent of spending, which flowed overwhelmingly to one candidate: Kira Orange Jones, the executive director of Teach For America of Greater New Orleans and a first-time office-seeker. State records show that Ms. Orange Jones raised about $478,000 for her campaign, an amount that financially buried her main opponent, incumbent Louella Givens, who finished second to Ms. Orange Jones in an October primary and then lost to her in a November runoff. Ms. Orange Jones, though only 33 years old, was able to capitalize on connections across the landscape of politics and education.