The conference was convened to provide a forum for educators, human rights representatives, and government officials to discuss decision-making processes of local education authorities. The focus of the conference was on the increasing influence on educational policy formation of federal and state court decisions, regulatory agencies, professional associations and unions, publishing houses, and schools of education. Much of the discussion centered on the impact of rulings from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on policy making in education in New York City. The keynote speech presented by Michael Usdan, Commissioner for Higher Education for Connecticut, stressed changing relationships between federal, state, and local governments in education, accretion of federal power, fragmented political structures, urban educational problems, and educational finance. Other speakers discussed the constitutional framework of educational policy formation, Supreme Court involvement in education, discrimination in employing teachers, selective enforcement of OCR policies, and flight of middle income families to the suburbs. In the summary of conference discussions, a recommendation was made to increase interaction between local school boards and the OCR for the purpose of dealing with issues currently overlooked in OCR rulings. (DB)