Societal stories about school do not just reflect our current views and values, they also shape our political preferences and the realities that result from them. In recent decades, stories of the traditional common school and its more collectivist, shared culture have given way to newer stories oriented around competition and choice. Sarah Stitzlein and Kathleen Knight Abowitz suggest that telling new stories that foreground the public or shared purposes of public education may lead people to choose candidates and back policies that better serve our children and our communities.