There has been specific, measurable progress made in education, but there are threatening trends that could wipe it out. These trends--the back to basics movement, minimum competency testing, vouchering, and the tax revolt--all support each other, and can cause detrimental effects on education if they should succeed. Ways that the federal government can combat these movements include the establishment of a system, procedure, or apparatus to continually reevaluate educational needs; the assessment of what our schools have accomplished and still need to accomplish; the encouragement of educational research and development in order to discover more effective methods and procedures; the effective dissemination of information generated by public funds. (SAS)