It could be a new reform package, it could be attacking the unions, it could be vouchers, it could be school consolidation. In the end, there are no easy answers. If you can't get people to sit down and talk about change, then they aren't interested. If they're not interested in change, things aren't going to change. Initiating constructive change requires leadership.
Leadership is the skill needed to bring people to the table, start talking and keep talking.
Your report showed not only that Superintendent Hornbeck lacked the necessary leadership skill to start the dialogue, but also that none of the key players in Philadelphia and Harrisburg were ever interested in seeing things improve anyway. The interviews showed the standoffish, 'it's Hornbeck's baby' attitude on the part of everyone else. Nobody seemed to realize that Philadelphia's biggest enemy was in the mirror. They all just want to sit in their own corner with their arms folded across their chests and comment on how someone else was doing. It's hard for a financially strapped school district to really change anything to begin with.