ABSTRACT
The intention of this chapter is to highlight and discuss questions and assertions relating to schooling, from the perspectives of the State’s (also understood as states or provinces where decentralization prevails) involvement in conducting policy discussions and in shaping policies, as well as of its role in furthering changes within the school system. Given my recent experience of a major project to revamp the secondary system in Chile, I will tend not only to focus the chapter particularly on secondary education, but also to scatter it with examples from the Chilean scene.
