Since there is little reason to believe otherwise today, and given the recent focus across North America on the weighty challenges facing all levels of education, we decided to devote a special edition of Canadian Issues to an examination of those challenges through some of the leading voices in the field. In this issue, we attempt to address prevailing concerns across the spectrum - from the grade school classroom to the presidential offices of our top universities. In between we share the passion and words of teachers, students, researchers, academics, government leaders and community activists.Contributors: Paul Cappon, Marilies Rettig, Malkin Dare, Michael Temelini, Daniel Parent, Jean- Pierre Robitaille, Yves Gingras, Myron Lieberman, Jerry Ellig, Ralph G. Neas, Thomas Harapniuck, Richard Riley, Graham Spanier, Louis Visentin, Peter MacKinnon, janye M. Hodder, Louise Cloutier, James Turk, Philip Resnick, Raymond Blake