This paper describes the educational movement toward alternative schools and suggests further sources of information concerning this change in American education. Following an analytical comparison of open and traditional schools, the author discusses some of the most important perceived problems related to open schools. Problems noted are financing, staffing, difficult students and parents, noise levels in open areas, personal space, attendance and advising, and reentry into traditional schools. An annotated bibliography includes not only related printed material but also a list of organizations that the reader may find helpful in further explorations related to free and open schools. Information is provided to the user concerning the avialability of some of the documents from the ERIC microfiche collection. (SHM)