This is a watershed era in education as the states and the nation move from the old equity and adequacy of minimums and basic skills to the new equity and adequacy of excellence in education and proficiency outcomes for all children and at all schools. This is being driven by the requirements of the knowledge society, global economy, and technological revolution and is apparent in the education sector by the state standards-setting movement and the groundswell of school finance litigation. Linking top-down standards-based reform and bottom-up school finance reform has the potential to affect American education well into the future. However, to align resources with curriculum and performance standards, funding systems need to be reinvented for an information age and global economy. Current school finance systems are obsolete and antiquated; they have failed to achieve equity or to incorporate adequacy. They finance minimums and basic skills, not excellence in education and proficiency outcomes for all children and schools, and they present a formidable obstacle to reform. Lack of financial support is also a problem--the number one problem facing public schools today, according to a Gallup poll of the public's attitude toward the public schools. This article provides an examination of key dimensions of finance reform, including equity, adequacy, and equal opportunity, using research from the state of Illinois. It concludes by discussing key routes to change and improvement and the dilemmas they represent for the state. (Contains 7 tables, 2 figures and 64 footnotes.)