After positing the need for the bedrock of schooling (reading, writing, and computing numbers and quantities), the author examines the content and presentation of the rest of the curriculum. Two quiding principles are used in this examination: (1) surprisingly few particular pieces of knowledge and skill must be mastered by everybody in the same form, and (2) generally, what is truly essential is some big goal and there may be many different ways of reaching that goal. The author is particularly interested in four purposes of the curriculum: offering a career education, enabling students to live with technology, developing effective citizenship, and promoting personal fulfillment. The author considers that much of the knowledge currently a part of the curriculum is deadwood and calls for a return to the old ideal of a liberal education. A liberal education is simply an education that uses organized content, drawn from high in the culture, in the making of a human being. Toward that fulfillment, the greatest essentials are readiness for a fine lifetime career, effectiveness as a citizen, and enrichment of the inner self to its full potential. (Author/IRT)