Dan Kleinman is a Chicago activist and member of the Senn High School Local School Council.
He posted this to his blog and asked me for a comment on his Facebook page.
Dear Dan,
I remember the movie Lean on Me with the wonderful Morgan Freeman.
I remember hating it.
The image of a tough-love principal walking down the halls of school wielding a baseball bat against teachers and students like a thug freaked me out.
But I love what is happening at Senn.
I love it because it appears to be a community of parents and teachers and community talking to each other.
What counts as success is based on measures you are creating.
Not some bean counter on Clark Street.
You count graffiti free walls.
A safe environment for learning.
Even a metric for safety.
Freshly painted lockers.
A student run store that you are proud to have helped create.
You asked me if this isn’t “a better way to turn around a school.”
Oh yes.
But I wouldn’t compare Senn to the school Joe Clark runs in the movie Lean On Me.
The one wielding a metaphorical baseball bat against teachers and students in Chicago like a thug is Mayor Emanuel.
Fred Klonsky 
“What counts as success is based on measures you are creating>’
Love this line, Fred. Hope you don’t mind if I use it.