Responsibilities of the formal education system in the collaborative effort among various parts of the Department of Labor, community based organizations, and the formal education system called for by the Youth Employment Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) of 1977 are addressed in this paper. Its basic thesis is that, as education discharges its obligations under YEDPA, a series of opportunities for needed basic structural changes in education will inevitably emerge. To defend this thesis, obligations of the formal education system found in the YEDPA legislation are specified, youth needs to be met by the collaborative effort involving the education system are listed, and a series of opportunities for basic educational change growing out of methods required to meet education's obligations are identified. Opportunities discussed include the following: to plan and implement ways of utilizing the broader community in the educative process; to learn about and implement new ways of awarding academic credit; to provide diversified educational opportunities of students within the framework of an integrated educational system; to enhance and protect freedom of career choice; and to relate educational experiences to later lifestyle activities of youth. (TA)