After almost five decades of working in and around public schools, Larry Cuban invites us to think along with him about why it is so hard to get good schools. He offers these reflections because his contact with tens of thousands of public school participants - teachers, policymakers, researchers, parents, and students - has convinced him that ""I am not alone in coping with these thorny dilemmas...as each of us muddles toward the kinds of 'good' schooling that we seek for children.