This article provides the author's thoughts concerning nine major events, reports, and pieces of legislation that have shaped American education over the past 65 years. It also lists several lessons he has learned from these efforts. In addition, a number of proposals are offered for achieving genuine reform in education, and for strengthening the position of music in the school curriculum. Paul R. Lehman is a Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He served as president of the Music Educators National Conference, now the National Association for Music Education, from 1984 to 1986. This piece is adapted from his remarks delivered on March 24, 2018, at the NAfME National In-Service Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of these thoughts have been discussed by the author in earlier publications.