The average life span for African-Americans in Louisiana today
(72.2 years) is shorter than that of Colombians, Vietnamese and
Venezuelans. The average life span of an African-American in New
Orleans is 69.3 years, nearly as low as life expectancy in North
Korea. African-Americans in Tangipahoa Parish have well-being
levels of the average American in the early 1950s. From the
American Human Development Project’s “Portrait of Louisiana,”
released today. More data on the state, like food stamp usage by
parish, here. Hurricane Katrina destroyed cities, jobs and
lives. But for some children, the storm may have resulted in an
unforeseen upside: better schooling. A new working paper from
Prof. Bruce Sacerdote at Dartmouth University notes that when
families fled New Orleans, they were forced to abandon its
failing school system. Professor Sacerdote used data on
Louisiana students’ test scores and college attendance, both
before and after the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to calculate
what effect leaving a failing sc