In recent years, the Illinois State Board of Education engaged in a series of special studies on all aspects of the State's public schools. The major part of this report describes eight fundamental problems in Illinois elementary and secondary education, as identified by the Board through its studies, and the actions which have been proposed in response to these problems. Areas covered are (1) the purpose of schools, (2) student learning, (3) school district accountability, (4) equal educational opportunities, (5) quality of educational personnel, (6) dropouts, (7) education for employment, and (8) school finance. An appendix consists of a statistical profile of the 1982-83 school year. Included are data on financial resources; State, local and Federal funds; school districts by type and enrollment; public school attendance centers; public school buildings; public school enrollment comparisons; public school enrollment changes by county; public school enrollment by racial/ethnic distribution; nonpublic enrollment by affiliation; nonpublic enrollment comparison; absence rates by type of district; dropout data by grade level; bilingual education; vocational education enrollments; public school staff; teacher certification trends; and teacher supply and demand. (GC)