To make aesthetic forms a significant force for changing what schools do requires that we reconsider the nature of the aesthetic experience and begin to uncover the complex of connections between aesthetic, ideological, and economic/political forms. (Author/MLF)

Although "A Nation at Risk" identifies many legitimate problems, the report misconstrues their causes and proposes inappropriate solutions. By blaming schools for America's economic, military, and moral shortcomings, it deflects criticism from education's social, economic, and political context, which we must analyze if we seek a more just and…