The design of an information system for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is described in this the first in a series of six reports. The system is designed to support educational accountability--the concept that schools and educators should be held responsible (accountable) for educational results. The information system represents an attempt to introduce accountability by implementing and supporting program budgeting, a management philosophy and methodology that aids decisionmaking under resource constraints. The report identifies and discusses general information system goals; it describes the guidelines for information system design and implementation; it specifies the information requirements of District decisionmakers operating in an accountability/program budgeting environment; and it concludes by enumerating and discussing guidelines concerning methods of information collection, storage, and dissemination. (Other reports in this series are: LI003909 through 003912). (Author/NH)