This is a preliminary study of the relationship of local government reorganization to the operation of the public school system in each of three urban complexes. Included in the study were two of the approximately twenty metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada that have undergone governmental merger or major structural reorganization since 1946: Nashville/Davidson County and Indianapolis/Marion County. A third area, Louisville/Jefferson County, where school district consolidation but no merger of municipal and county governments has taken place, was also included. In addition to the significant reorganization all three areas have undergone, each of the areas has been involved in long and costly litigation over the school desegregation issue. In this document, the results of the examination are presented in the form of three case studies. These studies, in turn, are followed by an overall impression and evaluation of the findings, and a number of generalizations of probable application to a broader spectrum of cities. Finally, the preliminary findings of the study are related to the school system/government situation in St. Louis, with appropriate parallels drawn. (Author/GC)