This article explores student empowerment in a restructured urban Title I middle school. The study includes data from eight participants in an action research project that involved a critical inquiry unit in an eighth-grade language arts class that asked students, "How are you empowered and disempowered by school?" Findings reveal that although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policies are said to empower students, student empowerment is rather a negotiated process that requires teachers to help students develop an eye for fairness, create opportunities for them to express themselves in new ways, and encourage them to learn from one another.