The future stability of the Los Angeles school district as a single entity is questioned. Various problems that add instability to the system's present decentralization plans are discussed. Among them are achievement and academic performance. (Author/AM)

Political developments with respect to two public school systems are examined in terms of two theoretical models. When viewed from the analytical perspective used here, similarities between the two cities with respect to progress in decentralization begin to emerge.

It is very difficult to know who controls such educational agencies as the home, television, the churches, youth groups, and factories. Control of the schools shifts a little bit daily among such forces as social class, American business, the sexes, teachers, administrators, racial and ethnic groups, the citizenry, the courts, and the young. (JM)

Public school systems in Chicago have seen relatively little movement toward school decentralization, despite turbulent periods of civil rights. Some explanations framed in theoretical perspectives for the apparent lag as compared with other cities are given. (Author/AM)

A sequential model of events that commonly precedes the emergence of demands of community control is proposed. Responses of district authorities to the control demand is then interpreted within the framework of several theoretical models.

Amish parents who refused to enroll their children in high school (because of religous tenets) violated the Wisconsin Compulsory School Attendance Law. The court ruled the law unconstitutional as it applied to these parents; this opens issues for current community control. (DM)

Suggests the extent to and particular ways in which urban governments and school systems are undemocratic and unresponsive to community needs. Provides an example of the general inability of minority groups to obtain their social and political goals through either protest or political bargaining. (Author/AM)

Examines the nature of the "sense of fate control" findings of the Coleman Report, and argues that these findings are irrelevant to the debate over community control. (DM)

Summarizes the organizational process and political bargaining models of policy change, and considers the rational decision-making model as an alternative. Models are interrelated with each other to show how each reveals a dimension of the politics of school decentralization. (Author/AM)

Relates historical and contemporary developments in secondary schools to the issue of social change. Notes that some positive signs include a determination among urban leaders that urban education be a first-class education for all students regardless of race or class. (Author/AM)

Discusses the arguments for and against expanded public participation in educational policy making and considers examples of several forms of public participation drawn from the U.S., France, Italy, England, Sweden, the German Federal Republic, and the People's Republic of China. Also explores some of the probable consequences of expanded public…

Reassesses the role of the school in the black community, concluding that the devaluation of the power of the school to politically, economically and culturally develop the community has hidden "the profound and pervasive influence of the school in shaping the lives of black Americans." (Author/JM)