29 years in the classroom brings into focus the blurred vision of education promoted by a public funded system that operates under initiatives and mandates that have for their purpose the fulfillment of political agendas, rather than the welfare of students. The "system" is a concoction of past agendas that have their sources of origin in superintendent directives, governor visions, legislative mandates, and federal compliance. Individual schools have limited flexibility to deal with inequality of educational opportunity because direct action at the school level is strangled by the requirements of the system. Public education can only be reformed at the school level; and this can only happen if what happens at each school is more important than the "system."