The Enduring Promise of America's Great City Schools

Michael Casserly served for thirty years as the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, the nation's primary coalition of large urban school districts. Over the decades, he worked directly with the nation's urban school leaders on many of their most difficult challenges.

"Fixing a budget is linear, but improving student achievement is not. Casserly has done an outstanding job of taking such a complex, important matter and identifying who has actually improved student achievement and how they have done it. This is a must-read for any superintendent, novice or not." --Michael Hinojosa, former superintendent, Dallas Independent School "Casserly offers a candid evaluation of urban PreK-12 school districts with his more than 50 years of experience. This insightful and honest book documents decades of reform with accuracy, highlights pitfalls, and provides guidance for the road ahead, underscoring the challenges faced, achievements made, and the promising future of public education in America's urban centers. This is a must-read for every urban public school educator, administrator, and policymaker."--Janice K. Jackson, CEO, Hope Chicago, and former CEO, Chicago Public Schools "Education activist Casserly makes a case for the utility of urban public schools. America's "great city schools," writes Casserly, have made measurable improvements in the last three or so decades, including increasing the graduation rate from about 65% in 1990 to about 80% in 2023, which "swelled the ranks of higher education and contributed substantially to the nation's economy." Many schools have exceeded the expected outcomes in mathematics, reading, and other academic areas. For all that, as Casserly observes, urban schools have faced tremendous challenges...he delivers a persuasive argument for supporting public education against its many discontents, always with an eye on what's best for the children being served." Continue reading: https: //www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-casserly/the-enduring-promise-of-americas-great-city-schools/--Kirkus, Kirkus "Michael Casserly's book is a powerful testament to the role of public education in American democracy. Drawing on his extensive experience with the Council of the Great City Schools, Casserly distills the many lessons learned by large school district superintendents into profound insights and a compelling vision. This is an essential read for anyone committed to the future of education in America."--Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, and former superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools "When I led DC Public Schools, I always looked to Mike Casserly to help answer the hardest questions. With this book, he provides us all the opportunity to benefit from his insights. Nobody understands better what our schools are doing well, why they sometimes struggle, and why we should all have great hope for our city schools."--Kaya Henderson, CEO, Reconstruction, and former chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools