State and national policymakers are increasingly important in shaping the nature, scope, and direction of education initiatives, resulting in the erosion of local control. The Rising State weaves together leading national experts' perspectives that focus on equity, comparative differences in state educational policies, agenda setting, and the nationalization of education policy. The contributors provide policymakers, teachers, administrators, parents, and the general public with an opportunity and means to understand the success and failure of the growth of state power and centralization of control of education in the United States and offer forecasts for future developments.