Educational purpose, policy, and practice in America have changed in important ways since World War II. For example, there have been three time periods with different educational purposes during the last forty years. For each of these periods, there were implicit assumptions made about why we educate, how we educate and where we educate. The first period devoted to "democracy in education," was replaced by "equality of educational opportunity," and was followed by the goal of "equity in education." Each of these assumptions has been influenced by changes in social goals, leaders, politics, scholarly research, and human and financial resources. Also, each has had its own policies and practices. If the current educational goal of "equity in education," is to be achieved, society must express its commitment to this educational purpose. The place where such a purpose can be fulfilled is the school. (Author/EB)