It would seem that it is impossible to avoid the constant hand-wringing that goes on in academic and popular circles about the problems faced by most, if not all, major urban school districts across the United States. The Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs has been preoccupied with that question since 1993, and has developed a national program of research and analysis that examines a range of alternatives that "rethink and challenge" the current system. On their site, visitors can learn about their research initiatives, learn about their staff of experts, and download any number of helpful working papers, full-length research reports, and opinion pieces. Some of the more compelling full-length works include such publications as "Making Sense of Leading Schools: A Study of the School Principalship" and "An Impossible Job? The View from the Urban Superintendent's Chair."