This article reviews the education reform and development footprints in China by analyzing four key education policy documents in the past three decades. The conclusion is that the reform and development of China's educational establishment have provided excellent support for the operations of China's political and economic systems. The reality is that all the great achievements are manifested in quantitative changes as exemplified by nine-year compulsory education and the popularization of higher education. However nowhere, from the concept of education to the administration of education, has there been any fundamental change of substance. The reform of education, like economic reform, will probably be heading to deeper waters. (Contains 3 tables and 2 notes.)