Much of the misunderstanding concerning planning, programing, and budgeting stems from the lack of operational planning systems. However, such a system has been developed and field tested over the past 3 years in two counties and six school districts in Pennsylvania. Key concepts used in the system include forecasting, indicators, the status report, and project alternatives. These concepts have been modified and adopted for the recommended New Jersey Vocational Educational Planning system. The system is primarily concerned with planning decisions and only secondarily with management and operations decision processes. It provides a formalized, sequential process, functioning continuously during the planning cycle and incorporates planning subsystem procedures, indicator sets, forecast procedures, and data files and report generation procedures. (Author/JS)