The Seattle School District says it’s all about equity these days. In his office one day, Superintendent Joseph Olchefske declares that the traditional bell curve system for grading students is out. The district no longer wants to score students on the basis of how they compare to one another since that system necessarily dooms some kids—those who score worse than their peers—to failure. Instead, Olchefske says, the district’s mandate is to make all kids meet new state standards. Everybody succeeds, nobody fails.

Can you buy this “equality of outcome,” as the superintendent puts it? The district, along with millionaire Stuart Sloan, is trying. Sloan is pouring millions of dollars into two public schools, including one due to open next month, serving the kind of poor, minority kids that have traditionally done the worst in school. But success is proving elusive, as Nina Shapiro shows.

Meanwhile, the district has yet to tackle a major stumbling block to true equity of outcome: the astonishingly high rate of African Americans—and boys of all races—assigned to special education. Philip Dawdy investigates whether special ed has become a dumping ground for those who merely misbehave. And Audrey Van Buskirk looks at one family’s wrenching experience.

The state’s higher ed institutions have their own problems, too, including a financial and space crunch. But at least somebody’s having fun. Sean P. Riley recalls his days with some of the coolest profs you’ll ever find at—guess where—Seattle University, a Jesuit school. And if you want to head back to the books yourself (or the kitchen or the pottery wheel), we’ve compiled a handy list of extracurricular classes.