To understand what is going on in American education, it might help to turn to a relatively neutral source, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, and its released report, The 2004 Political Landscape: Evenly Divided and Increasingly Polarized. "Over the past four years, the American electorate has been dealt a series of body blows, each capable of altering the political landscape," the report said. "The voting system broke down in a presidential election. A booming economy faltered, punctuated by revelations of one of the worst business scandals in U.S. history. And the country endured a devastating attack on its own soil, followed by two major wars." As a result, the nation has emerged "almost evenly divided politically, yet further apart than ever in its political values," the report said. Here, an adaptation from the chapter "A Nation Divided" by Lawrence Hardy published in "Education Vital Signs 2004" is presented. In this article, the author talks about the nation's divided stance on education policies and reforms.