In October 1973, representatives of six groups of Tennesseans reflecting professional and lay opinion about education were asked to identify what they considered to be the most critical current issues in Tennessee education. The most frequently mentioned responses in this initial phase of the survey were used to construct a listing of 10 key issues, which listing was printed on a business reply card along with instructions for ranking the issues in order of importance. In a second phase, the survey instrument thus developed was sent to a larger sample of the same six groups of Tennesseans. A remarkably high degree of association was found to exist among the opinions of the six groups of Tennesseans with regard to the relative importance of the survey issues. The 10 critical issues as identified and ranked by the professional and lay groups were: (1) financing education--including salaries; (2) teacher competence; (3) vocational education programs; (4) discipline; (5) lack of concern by pupils, staff, parents, and public; (6) size of classes--overcrowding and overloaded staff; (7) improvement of general curriculum; (8) inadequate facilities; (9) special education programs; and (10) administrative reform and/or reorganization. (Author)