This case study analyzes and evaluates the administrative computer systems in the British Columbia public school organization in order to investigate the costs and benefits of computers, their impact on managerial work, their influence on centralization in organizations, and the relationship between organizational objectives and the design of computer systems. The study is based on (1) analysis of past and present policy developments, (2) interviews with 23 educational administrators at the provincial, district, and building level, and (3) interviews with representatives of educational agencies and the commercial sector. Findings suggest that the use of computers at all levels of the school system leads to increased control at each of those levels, but that the largest increase in control accrues to the Ministry of Education. Highly computer-dependent monitoring systems, in the form of a Planning, Programing and Budgeting System (PPBS), along with provincial examinations and achievement tests, are the chief vehicles of control. Barriers to the design and implementation of a provincially distributed data processing system in British Columbia include (1) hardware and software incompatibility among districts and between districts and the Ministry of Education; (2) lack of a firm ministry commitment to standardization, resulting in redundancy and duplication of services; (3) school district resistance to central direction in data processing; and (4) financial constraints. Parallel to, but unconnected with this project, teacher and school trustee organizations also introduced new central office systems, using computerization to reduce expenditures and increase organizational control. A glossary, a bibliography, and seven appendixes are included. (TE)