This paper describes the Detroit Education Task Force and its efforts to develop a problem-solving agenda for the Detroit public schools. The paper describes the background and history of the task force and analyzes its relationship with the Detroit Central Board of Education and with administrators of the Detroit school system. The educational impact of "third party" groups in general is discussed, followed by a detailed examination of the Detroit Education Task Force and its function. A final section presents a number of observations and conclusions about the experience of the task force and discusses the possible benefits of developing similar "third party" groups in other school systems. (JG)