This article explores the role of the public in California's educational accountability system. Drawing on a review of state policy and case studies of two school communities, it examines whether California's accountability system draws on and supports an informed and engaged public. The analysis points to a disconnect between a rhetoric that upholds public engagement and policy structures and practices that limit or distort educational information and thwart public efforts to participate in accountability. The article calls on California to nurture an informed and engaged public that will both enable and demand high quality schools.