Focusing on pre-collegiate public education in the United States, this working paper seeks to develop a common knowledge base, design a grantmaking strategy in the field, and inform educators and other grantmakers about the interests of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The document contains six major sections covering the following: (1) a brief historical overview of the goals and practices of American public education; (2) demographic and financial data describing its current status; (3) a summary of the findings, recommendations, and reactions to recent studies of public education; (4) an explanation of some of the current trends in public school reform; (5) a look at the crisis in the teaching profession--its causes and possible cures; and (6) a discussion of the Foundation's desire to help improve American education and its particular area of focus: teachers. To improve the pool of future teachers and retain the existing good teachers, the Foundation will consider funding projects concerning: (1) professional development for high potential teachers and administrators; (2) career development for promising high school students; (3) greater public awareness of the promising and positive aspects of the teaching profession; and (4) increasing literacy skills in young people. (ETS)