Introduction, Learning from the past / Larry Cuban and Michael Usdan -- Businessman's educator : mayoral takeover and nontraditional leadership in Chicago / Dorothy Shipps -- Boston : the stars finally in alignment / Michael Usdan and Larry Cuban -- Vision of hope : a case study of Seattle's two nontraditional superintendents / Gary Yee and Barbara McCloud -- Fast and top-down : systemic reform and student achievement in San Diego city schools / Larry Cuban and Michael Usdan -- Tall order for Philadelphia's new approach to school governance : heal the political rifts, close the budget gap, and improve the schools / William Lowe Boyd and Jolley Bruce Christman -- City-state partnership to reform Baltimore's public schools / James G. Cibulka -- What happened in six cities? / Larry Cuban and Michael Usdan