This article asserts that although there has been a consistently increasing demand on both the national and state levels for alignment of resources (inputs) to improved student outcomes (outputs), the lack of a systematic and well-defined policy portfolio has limited reform effectiveness. This article specifically examines the overreliance on standards and curriculum as reform mechanisms and the often distracting and unproductive judicial interventions connected to equity and adequacy litigation. (Contains 1 table, 10 figures, and 2 footnotes.)