Big-city administrators face a multitude of problems falling under three general headings--finance, discontent, and educational programs. Factors contributing to the financial problems in big cities include (1) the decline in the proportion of manufacturing employment compared to that of suburban areas, (2) decreases in taxable assessed valuation, and (3) the failure of State and Federal aid to equalize the maldistribution of local available resources. Discontent is evidenced by teacher militancy, parent alienation from the power structure of the system, and student activists rebelling against authority. One writer argues that the trouble with much of the education of disadvantaged children is that it is not quality education. Compensatory education has been an attempt to correct this situation, but with only marginal success. There has been an abundance of programs, projects, and processes introduced to improve urban education, including Head Start, Upward Bound, the Teachers Corps, Central Cities Projects (CCP), and many others. Under the auspices of CCP both old and new programs are being used to improve inner-city education in such cities as Syracuse, Seattle, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, San Diego, Memphis, and New Orleans. (HW)