Schools in the United States are a powerful instrument for shaping the development of future generations of citizens and workers. As the global economy undergoes significant change, schools are being asked to prepare for college a more diverse population with more linguistic, cultural, and social challenges than ever before. How are we addressing these and other demands being placed on our education system? How are we defining the education problem and how did accountability and choice become the dominant solutions? Students will study the ways power and politics affect and are affected by such issues as reform and innovation, centralization and decentralization within federal systems of governance, privatization and school choice, race and ethnicity, poverty and inequality, professionalization and bureaucratization, and testing and accountability.