Using an in-depth study of public primary schools in Mexico, this work deals with the problems of providing public education for all children while attempting to maintain the quality of that education under an austere economy. These problems concern all developing countries, as well as the "developed" West, where resources are also often limited. Beginning with a review of recent educational policy in Mexico and a survey of development education in general, this study then looks at the local level to consider social agents in primary school education: teachers, parents, pupils and officials. The focus is an analysis of school drop-out and school success, specifying how everyone involved in the educational process plays a part in that success or failure. Prevailing theories of schooling are challenged in this analysis.