This article discusses the issue of trust in the education system. What is different about the issue of trust in the education system is the assault upon it, sometimes overt but most often subtle. There is a difference between strong criticism and willful manipulation. The nation's schools are responding to the former--perhaps too slowly for some--but the need to improve education has caught the attention of almost everyone. The manipulative tactics used in hardball politics--and education has become a national political issue--are more difficult to understand or even to recognize. It took a long time, for example, for the education sector to realize that the U.S. Department of Education's answer to the complexity of the new No Child Left Behind law was a public relations blitz. With a political year looming on the horizon and much riding on the success of the President's education initiatives, this is a time to be even more vigilant about protecting the public's trust in education. The author provides a primer on some ideas, language, and pitfalls to avoid.