With the creation of the Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) in 2000, the National League of Cities (NLC) strengthened its capacity to assist municipal officials in their efforts to improve the quality of public education and develop programs and initiatives that help ensure the successful development of youth. As part of these efforts, the 30-month Municipal Leadership in Education (MLE) project was launched in June 2001 with financial support from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The MLE project set out to support and assist local communities and to illustrate the leadership roles that mayors and council-members can play--and are playing--to promote and support school improvement. The project also sought to identify promising practices in municipal leadership and school improvement, while developing a range of tools and resources for mayors and council-members who are interested in strengthening K-12 education. Cities with a population of at least 50,000 were invited to apply to participate in the intensive, targeted technical assistance project. The following six cities were selected through a competitive process: (1) Charleston, South Carolina; (2) Columbus, Ohio; (3) Fort Lauderdale, Florida; (4) Lansing, Michigan; (5) New Haven, Connecticut; and (6) Portland, Oregon. Despite being faced with leadership changes, the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, government budget deficits, and other challenges, each of the six cities in the Municipal Leadership in Education project made important strides in improving education for children and youth in their communities. This report includes six city stories that reflect the experiences of these cities during the MLE project. The final section of the report contains a series of lessons learned and recommendations derived from the city stories. These lessons are relevant for mayors and council-members nationwide who are committed to using their positions of leadership to achieve the best education possible for youth in their cities. (Contains 20 resources and 6 footnotes.