The waiting game: graduates of new leaders for new schools sport enviable resumes and a zeal for education reform. But will school districts give them the key to the principal's office?

Education Next, Summer, 2004 by Alexander Russo

The lessons from the Chicago experience are clear and are already being implemented, according to Schnur. "We need to become more aggressive earlier in the year about helping nontraditional candidates access networks that can help them and in helping them understand the climate of the school system," he says. Last year, "We didn't invest enough time and energy into this part of the process early enough." This year the program has started networking earlier in the process and beefed up efforts to make sure that, when the time comes, New Leaders fellows are not just ready to take leadership positions, but are also welcomed by the school system.

-Alexander Russo is a freelance education writer. He is the editor of School Reform in Chicago: Lessons in Policy and Practice (Harvard Education Press, 2004).