This paper considers those factors that have been at work shaping educational policy at the state level in New Jersey. For simplicity and to permit a degree of comparison among the states, five questions are addressed: (1) What have been the effects of court intervention, (2) Are "new" political coalitions being formed and how effective are they, (3) What are the effects of the "new technologies" of school finance analysis, (4) What is the relationship of the school finance issue to other statewide issues, and (5) From the perspective of better serving the educational needs of pupils, are the changes that are attainable worth attaining? New Jersey has attained a modest, "simple," yet potentially profound, change in public education. It is a change in the education process, however, not in the way in which education is financed; New Jersey has failed at school finance reform. What New Jersey has is the goal of providing to all children regardless of socio-economic status or geographic location, the educational opportunity that will prepare them to function politically, economically, and socially in a democratic society. (Author/IRT)