This paper attempts to conceptualize, sort, and analyze national and state policies that have affected teacher education programs during the last 30 years. If teacher recruitment, preparation, licensing, and professional development are situated at the ropes center, then who is winning the tug-of-war over teacher education policy making. The paper introduced the tug-of-war players and provides a brief synopsis of the governance structures and historical context of teacher education programs in the United States. It also discusses the nature of policy problems, outlines different policy instruments, and discusses how one can examine the accountability system embedded in a policy. The third section of the paper examines state and national teacher education policies from the past three decades, tracing how the center point has moved back and forth in the tug-of-war. Prior to 1970, the State team maintained the center flag with its authority over program approval and licensing. Through the 1970s, the National team increased its pull, and in the 1980s, the State team reasserted its efforts to maintain control of teacher education policy making. In the 1990s, the National team determined to take control of teacher education policy as it leveraged state teacher education reforms through the mandates and inducement of the Higher Education Act, Goals 2000, and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Higher education institutions and teacher education program personnel have not generally been participants in the tug-of-war, but they must react to changes in the center point, and must implement the policies that are increasingly being determined at a national level. (Contains 54 references.) (SLD)