This article offers retrospective and prospective commentary on the significance of "A Theory of Justice" for philosophy of education. It addresses the progress that Anglophone philosophy of education has made since the publication of "A Theory of Justice" in 1971, and the ways this progress has been facilitated by the transformation of political philosophy that Rawls set in motion. It offers examples of ongoing lines of inquiry and unfinished projects in philosophy of education for which Rawls' methods and positions remain important.