It is too soon to know the effect of federal block grants on education, but one can speculate on their implications for fiscal management by looking at past block grant programs, examining the statutory provisions, and analyzing data available on states and cities. Past federal block grants have involved health, crime, community development, social services, and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Reviewing their stability, accountability, administrative costs, and evaluations indicates that most lacked funding continuity, required different types of accountability, did not always reduce costs, and used varied evaluation methods. Also, program consolidation, as with Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, need not require block grants. Statutory provisions in Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 involve state maintenance of fiscal effort, use of block grants only as supplementary funds, obligation of funds, assurance of private school participation, tighter recordkeeping, and greater state involvement in evaluation. Statistical data show that overall federal aid has been reduced and redistributed, state allotments are unrelated to states' needs, local district allocations are adjusted for many factors, and districts in major urban areas will suffer substantial losses. (RW)