In this essay, the authors situate elementary mathematics teacher preparation in a broader, sociopolitical context, one that includes historical patterns of educational privilege and oppression. The authors attend to the effects of "reform" movements that encompass a vast array of stakeholders and interests as well as the growing significance of federal education policy on mathematics teacher education. In particular, they highlight the tensions involved in prospective teachers' first experiences in attempting to make sense of how research-based theories of learning and practice intersect with local schooling realities. The authors present questions that novice mathematics teachers might ask at the personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural levels; questions which hold the potential to disrupt dominant discourses and initiatives in favor of discourses that reframe mathematics education opportunities for oppressed youth in the United States.