Published: April 1, 2000

New Blood

Chicago's Dynamic Duo

Sarah Howard and Michelle Smith have a long history together as crusaders. In 1992, as rookie teachers at Harper High School on Chicago's South Side, they walked into the faculty lounge and found whites camped at one end of the lunch table, blacks at the other. Howard and Smith, however, ate together. "Oh yeah, we were the only mixed pair in the room," says Howard.

Today, the two are well-known champions of social justice and progressive teaching. While others cheer Chicago's recent gains in standardized-test scores, Howard and Smith rail against the district's reliance on exams. Three years ago, the duo opened one of the city's first charter schools, joining—albeit, with trepidation—a movement that some decry as anti-public education. Their goal: nothing less than breaking the cycle of poverty and shattering the stereotype that teachers shouldn't expect a lot from disadvantaged...