Among the various public and private interest groups who concern themselves with policy-making in California's Capitol, education has long been envied for having a special place in the constitution that establishes its importance among all issues. Several provisions of the state constitution relate to the priority of public education, and yet school leaders often find themselves fighting with political officials and competing interests who would prefer to ignore, circumvent, manipulate or outright repeal some of the critical assurances. The education community must be ever-vigilant in aggressively protecting and asserting the constitutional provisions for education. The impressive and unified effort of the entire education community, including parents, teachers, classified personnel, administrators and school boards, made the difference in defeating California's Proposition 76, which would have set state schools on a course of long-term disinvestment. The seemingly relentless effort to undermine school mandate funding is a battle that concerned voters are finally beginning to win, despite an occasional setback. As they look for new solutions to school funding in the future, they must always be mindful that securing constitutional priority is not enough. The education community must sustain an ongoing effort to enforce the constitutional provisions that benefit schools and the students they serve, and fight attempts to take public school investment backward.