This timely book addresses the full range of critical issues pertaining to urban school reform by looking closely at the recent reform efforts in San Diego.

In 1998, U.S. district attorney for Southern California Alan Bersin was hired to run the San Diego City Schools. This June, he will depart San Diego as the nation's longest-serving big-city superintendent. During Bersin's tumultuous tenure, he achieved national prominence for his blunt challenge to the teachers' union and his...

Education reformers must consider whether school districts are the best way to organize schooling, a question which has been too often ignored.

Replacing boards of education with mayoral control has been a popular reform strategy in urban districts, butthere is little evidence ofthe strategy'seffectiveness.

A review of the research suggests that, on balance, mayoral control is sensible for troubled, urban school systems.