This issue of "Policy Notes" concerns the restructuring of American education during the past quarter-century, with centralization and legalization being the two most noteworthy changes in educational governance. David Kirp claims that the increased control of schooling by state and federal authorities, the elaboration of new administrative structures, and the greater power of educational professionals have generated conflict that increasingly has been resolved through the courts and other legal means. David Tyack traces the historical development of the American educational system. The legitimating effect of legalization on the state is viewed from an international perspective by Hans Weiler and June Yamashita. Deborah Rhode provides a lawyer's perspective on class action suits. John Meyer and Nancy Stone discuss decentralized national educational authority and the national scope of educational issues as two characteristics of the American educational system that generate legalization. In "Policy Perspectives," Donald N. Jensen analyzes education cases in California that were decided between 1858 and 1980 according to the number of cases decided, the issues they raised, and the type of plaintiff who brought the suit. (Author/MLF)