The purpose of this policy report is to bring coherence to discussions about school reform and to encourage policymakers to use a consistent metric when judging whether reform proposals are serving the needs of children and the nation. The current confusion and policy debates over what is a public school--brought about by recent educational legislation--creates problems for policymakers, the paper contends. It presents a list of key questions to help guide the thinking and focus of policymakers and educators. What goals are we pursuing? Why do we want children to attend schools? To what extent do we want to insist upon a common educational purpose of all children? How should we apportion responsibility for each childs education between the state and the family? Who should be permitted to provide schooling? How actively should the state regulate providers? Will profit-seeking individuals and firms be permitted to run schools or to manage schools for others? What obligations should schools have to ensure opportunity to all students? Are schools obliged to treat all students equally, or are they permitted to enroll or sort students as they see fit? What components of schooling should we consider to be public? (Contains 12 endnotes.) (WFA)