This paper describes the state of public education in Illinois in 1994. Over the last 3 years, the state has tried to improve its educational system, but continues to fall short of its goal. Attempts to produce economic efficiencies come at the expense of educational programs in rural communities while decentralization efforts in Chicago try to implement what the rural schools have always had--parents, teachers, and communities working together. State incentives send mixed messages: consolidate and decentralize. State fiscal incentives are built in piecemeal fashion and the new accountability standards constitute rhetoric without a funding formula behind it. Political realities continue to encumber movement toward a fairer system within the state and agreement on how to fund the 1995 budget. Administrators continue to seek additional revenues or cut costs without understanding how curricular expenditures relate to overall fiscal health or efficiency. The current growth-spend-improvement curve is antiquated, and a new representation of educational realities must be developed if Illinois is to increase its literacy and graduation rates. This era of globalization, technology, and multicultural boundedness has created permanent changes in schooling, which require a new vision of collaboration. It is concluded that until the process of education becomes a focus, its inputs or outputs will not change. (LMI)