I’m living through educational quick fixes in my home town of New York City at a rate that surpasses anything I’ve ever experienced. But that doesn’t mean that what happened before should be viewed as the good old times. Many of the Klein-­Bloomberg fixes (Joel Klein is the schools’ chancellor, Michael Bloomberg the mayor) are merely new versions of old ones, intensified to meet the intensified demand for quick solutions. What’s new is the possibility of giving up on public schooling for one ver-­ sion or another of privatization. None of us who are contributing to this issue of Profession are satisfied with what education in America has achieved, above all for those kids who start at the bottom. Given the fairly stagnant rate of social mobility in our nation, they are likely to remain at the bottom unless dramatic change takes place both in their schooling and in the economy. In a society where schooling credentials are increasingly a stand-­in for all forms of merit, staying at the bottom may lead them into greater poverty, while climbing slightly up the schooling ladder may not put them much further ahead. We can devise a system that is fairer and offer kids access to their power as citizens, which in turn might help them find ways to make America more equitable and fairer. But tackling this job will require us to reframe what the purpose of public education is, so that all kids may par-­

The Forum for Education and Democracy is an education think tank dedicated to renewing america's commitment to strong public schools at the national, state, and local levels. We work for school revitalization efforts and policies that prepare young people for lifelong learning and engaged, thoughtful democratic participation. We believe that educating future members of our communities to the fullest extent is vital to the health of our democracy, and that a public education system worthy of a democracy is characterized by strong public schools, equity of educational resources and the support of an involved citizenry. The Forum's vision for American education is grounded in support for our schools and policies that build their capacity to provide a world-class education for every child. The Forum is composed of nationally recognized educators who have founded schools and networks of schools, as well as reform organizations, that have pioneered new approaches that have improved teaching and learning. The Forum's Conveners have also been influential voices in education research and worked tirelessly to make schools more equitable. A selection of the experiences and accomplishments that inform their perspectives is included at the end of this report.