Parent-run free schools (parent coops) differ markedly from public schools in size and organizational structure, but this paper shows that these new institutions share the problem of teacher supervision. Conclusions are based on intensive study of three parent coops using both participant observation and interviewing. Parent coops must deal with a form of conflict between professional and bureaucratic-employer authority. Parents lack the means to control teacher activity; but where selection is successful, the mechanisms of accommodation are similar to those found in public schools. (Author)