Renewing the Middle School is a special three-part series in which the author, an eminent scholar in the field of middle grades education, offers his view on the status of middle grades education and its prospects for the future. In this part of the series, he responds strongly to some of the criticism that has been aimed at American public schools and middle schools, in particular. He believes, on the basis of four decades of personal experience in middle grades education, that middle schools are better than they have ever been. There is little doubt that middle grades teachers and school leaders are better trained and more professional than in any prior period. Even though middle level schools across the nation are arguably better than ever, teachers and principals are being pressured to work harder and asked to make ever more difficult choices about what to include in their in their curricula. Stress among educators seems higher than it has ever been, and morale seems lower than in many decades. (Contains 1 footnote.)