This article is concerned with the relationship between education, aspiration, and social mobility in Chhattisgarh, central India. I am interested in how the ideology of education as an intrinsic "social good" squares with the everyday experiences of marginalized "adivasi" (tribal) girls. My aim is to understand why education is differently valued by children and adults, and the ways in which girls' education-related aspirations are altered in relation to the changing possibilities of realizing them. (Contains 13 notes.)