Facing the typical challenges of urban schooling, including overcrowded schools, mediocre academic outcomes, and high dropout rates, the Los Angeles Unified School District has been at the epicenter of big-city education reform over the past decade. This article takes a look at the past 10 years of reform strategies in Los Angeles, and how education leaders enacted, implemented, and modified them over time, and demonstrates how this historical review can provide potential lessons for future efforts. In particular, it focuses on three fault lines, or illustrative cases, that highlight the divisions, coalitions, obstacles, and progress that characterize the decade's reforms: (1) the portfolio management model; (2) multiple-measure educator evaluation; and (3) efforts to promote equity. Together, these three examples illustrate the dynamics of change efforts amid a background of fiscal exigency and fiercely competing constituencies.