US public education faces concerted attack by those bent on corporate control, privatization, regimented reading instruction, and high-stakes testing. One democratic, humanistic, and research-based alternative can be found in the theory and practice of whole language, which empowered teachers and students alike through the 1980s and 1990s -- until a political backlash re-instituted corporate control of language arts. This article proposes that a renewed whole language movement, together with other allied educational campaigns, can provide hope and promise to the fight for quality public education.