As one looks at U.S. education today, one cannot help but put it into the perspective of Thomas Sowell’s forecasts of over three decades ago. When he reviewed schooling in America (Sowell (1993)), he pessimistically projected a system with rising costs, stagnant performance, and an uncompetitive international standing. He then outlined some necessary changes to deal with this unhappy future but more recently returned to illustrate how forces of resistance could stymy broad reform (Sowell (2020)).  This chapter places the status of today’s educational system into the tapestry that Sowell has woven through his many insightful works.