The article is devoted to the problem of Russian educational system reforming and its adaptation to the new challenges of the modern global economic and social conjuncture. The crucial task of the Russian educational policy is to ensure modern quality of education based on preserving its fundamental nature and compliance with the current and future needs of the individual, society and the state. Modernization of education is a political and national task; it should not and cannot be carried out as a departmental project. The interests of society and the state in the field of education do not always coincide with the sectoral interests of the educational system itself, and therefore the determination of the educational modernization directions cannot be locked in the framework of the educational community and the educational department. All Russian citizens, the family and the parent community, federal and regional state institutions of power, local governments, professional and pedagogical community, scientific, cultural, commercial and public institutions should become active subjects of educational policy. The educational modernization goal is to create a mechanism for the sustainable development of the education system. The article contains analysis of institutional, administrative, economic and pedagogical aspects of reforming.