In October 1975, the School Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District appointed a Citizen's Committee to conduct an appraisal of the management of the school district. This Citizen's Management Review Committee (CMRC) organized itself into five subcommittees: Management, Policy, Personnel, Budget, and Decentralization. The Decentralization Subcommittee attempted: (1) to identify problems that are facing the schools as perceived by various groups in the district; (2) to evaluate the operation of the Community Advisory Councils (CAC); and (3) to assess the extent to which the administrative decentralization of the school district has progressed toward the goals and recommendations that are expressed in district policy documents. A random sample of 50 schools was selected. At each school, in-depth open-ended interviews were held with principals, teachers, and parents. Analyses revealed that power has not been significantly redistributed by decentralization, but that decentralization has increased the equivocality of authority and accountability in the system. (Author/MV)