It’s casino night at Springfield Elementary, where Homer and Marge dream of walking away with a jackpot. Marge is concerned her gambling addiction will return, and it isn’t long before she’s running between slot machines and craps tables in a frenzy. Principal Skinner congratulates Martin, who came up the idea for the event. Later Homer places all his chips on a wheel of fortune game and wins big. Excited, he walks up to a cashier cage with an armful of chips… only to be told that the proceeds are for charity. Homer is outraged. When the other parents learn that their winnings are worthless, a riot breaks out and the school is ransacked. Skinner forces Martin to resign from his position as student body president and decides to call a new election. Lisa decides to run, but is dismayed to discover that she’s competing against Nelson, who’s enormously popular with students and virtually unbeatable. Lisa debates Nelson in the school auditorium, but is unable to win any points with her classmates until she sings a song expressing how she feels. The other kids are moved to tears, and her popularity soars.

Lisa becomes so popular that Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers worry she’ll be uncontrollable. Krabappel tells them that every woman’s weakness is her sense of vanity. Soon after, the teachers give Lisa a makeover, giving her a glamorous dress and handbag and making her look like Eva Peron. When Lisa approaches the teachers with ideas to make the school a better place, they sidetrack her with a list of meaningless events and photo opportunities. To grease the wheels even further, Skinner gives Lisa a key to the study hall. Lisa is thrilled; so much so that she eagerly signs some forms she’s given without reading them first. Later Bart warns Lisa that Skinner is using her to advance his own ends. Lisa doesn’t believe him. That night Skinner drafts a plan to cut music, gym, and art programs from the school budget, guaranteeing that “fun and excitement never start.” The next day Lisa and her fellow students realize that their favorite programs have been gutted. They also realize that Lisa signed a form approving the cuts. Lisa realizes she’s been tricked.

Lisa approaches Skinner and Chalmers and asks that she be allowed to make an announcement over the public address system. When she steps up to the microphone, she announces her resignation and calls for a general student strike. After the kids abandon the school, Lisa tells Skinner she won’t call off the strike until the music and art programs are reinstated. Wiggum and his men threaten to break up the strike, but Lisa easily convinces them to join the cause. Even documentary filmmaker Michael Moore shows up to voice his support for the students. Skinner and Chalmers eventually realize they must bring the strike to an end. They decide that getting rid of Lisa is the logical choice. Skinner tells Lisa she’s been transferred to another school. With no other options, Lisa does what she’s told and boards a school bus. She’s driven to the Springfield Magnet School, a lavish building populated by smart students. Lisa is in heaven, but Homer refuses to drive her 45 minutes just so she can attend classes. As Homer and Lisa argue the scene fades to black. A chyron informs the audience that the city found the money to restore the programs, and Lisa returned to Springfield Elementary, where her spontaneous bouts of bursting into song came to an end.