The current education system is failing our children. Yet the system shifts the blame as well as the search for possible solutions to teachers and learners, avoiding responsibility for its role in the existing oppressive structures. In turn, it fails to address the needs of a vastly diverse student population. This article looks at the development of democratic education by community theorist and practitioner Sally K. Carter. Carter initiated a partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to create a holistic summer learning experience based on community strengths. Carter introduced a blueprint for democratic education in the twenty-first century through the development of Tap In Leadership Academy, a 501(c)(3) out-of-school time, academic enrichment program that served youth pre-K through high school and their families. Tap In then extended into a year-round program with sites throughout central Illinois and Chicago. Although the program is no longer in operation, the principles on which it was founded remain a model for implementing democratic education in the twenty-first century.