ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that student achievement gains should be the evidence for making judgments about short term progress. The reform also created a real voice for parents and community members through representatives on the Local School Council. These parent-majority councils have the power to hire and fire the school principal, and to approve the budget and the School Improvement Plan. The Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 launched an undertaking of enormous scope that was very much in the process of developing. Taken as a whole, the Chicago School Reform Act was a complex and ambitious piece of legislation. The chapter suggests that an important unfinished aspect of Chicago school reform is the development of a new intermediate layer, between schools and the Board of Education, which can replace geographically, based sub-districts to support school development. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
