This article proposes a reframing of the purposes of mathematics education for the twenty-first century that combines apparently divergent philosophical approaches, arguing that the consequent empowerment should as a matter of individual equity be available to all young people (as well as of benefit to wider society). It suggests that the global mathematics attainment 'spotlight', and the English policy context in particular, offer both opportunities and constraints for the development of such

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... high-quality mathematics education. The article also discusses the challenging implications for the curriculum, and for the nature of teacher expertise, particularly subject-specific expertise, that is needed. Mathematics education in the spotlight 461 London Review of Education 16 (3) 2018 Reiss and White (2013) and by Young and Muller (2013) have complementary lenses to offer -but that the implications of their combination for the curriculum, and so for teacher expertise, are profound and demanding. I discuss in particular the systemic and systematic teacher education that is needed to achieve such nuanced purposes. Parts of the article are mathematically technical, but the shape of the argument stands without engagement with those.