To explore the issue of local control over public education, five major questions have been identified and followed by responses from a variety of sources that depict existing conflicts and diversity in opinion. The responses illustrate that resolutions of the local control problems are uncertain, not due to lack of direction by participants, but rather by their conflicting interests. Four general principles are suggested for operating within the many influences and interactions in open school systems: the line for demarcation for maintaining local control should clearly be established; school boards should promote communication among participants in the system and themselves; local power should be in the hands of those local participants who show the most responsibility; and overall control of power should be within the duly elected school board who is, by action, representative of local participants of the system. (Author/DW)