This paper explores the relationship between educational technologies and public education, discussing issues of technology becoming an end in itself, the impact of learner access to knowledge, technology's role in assessment, requisite skills for a technological society, and the technology's capacity to inform policy and practice. While educational technologies hold promise, they often reinforce the status quo instead of enabling transformation. For productive change, we must update teacher training, recognize outdated assumptions, and evaluate which problems technology might help solve. With thoughtful implementation, technology facilitates the development of effective, humanistic education systems through personalization, cultural pluralism, effective teaching, and policy.