Chicago schools offer L.A. a cautionary tale

CHICAGO — On a gritty stretch of Washington Boulevard west of this city's skyline, Dodge Elementary School for years had been a prototypical failing inner-city campus, with dismal test scores and poor teaching.

In 2002, Mayor Richard M. Daley lost patience. He closed the school, alienating the teachers union and parents. But by the time the school reopened the next year, scrubbed and painted, with top-notch teachers and a partnership with a local university, he had won some converts...