This report, compiled by the Urban Education Task Force (under the Department of Health Education and Welfare), offers both a comprehensive analysis of the crisis in urban education and recommendations for the future. Chapters cover: the financial crisis of the urban schools, urban education as a system, the impoverished urban student, and the problems in evaluating the impact of current Federal compensatory education programs. An Urban Education Act is proposed along with guidelines for curriculum, authority structure, funding process, and an assessment of cost. Short term recommendations to stay the deterioration of the urban schools are suggested. Appended are: the history and organization of the task force, references, and the dissenting views of one of the task force members. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (KG)