Present and past efforts to enhance school efficiency have failed. Progressive Era reforms of a half-century ago contributed to the creation of a publicly insensitive, professionally dominated education system. Accountability enthusiasts of the '70s failed to understand the fundamental misalignment between the assumptions underlying private sector production and the operating conditions characterizing public schools. Political participation and market incentives can be translated into specific tactics designed to enhance school effectiveness. First, the expectations for public education must be reduced. This can be facilitated by making individual schools the basic unit for management purposes. Principals should be regarded as crucial to the success of an individual school, and they should be accorded decision-making discretion commensurate with their responsibility. Parent councils should participate heavily in principal selection. Each school should attempt to expand the range of choice for households. Collective bargaining could be better adapted for the public sector by permitting heightened citizen involvement. (Author/MLF)