This book presents a report of public school-affiliated day care programs in 5 communities and a discussion of issues connected with public school involvement in day care. The programs described are: (1) Oakland Children's Centers, Oakland, California (preschool and after school care), (2) Extended Day Programs, Brookline, Massachusetts (after-school care), (3) Comprehensive Child Day Care Programs, Atlanta, Georgia (preschool and after-school care), (4) Education for Parenthood Pilot Project, Austin, Texas (infant and toddler care), and (5) Family Day Care in Anderson 5 and Pickens County, South Carolina (family day care). The opening chapters of the book describe the context in which discussion of the "public school question" has arisen and summarize the major arguments of both proponents and opponents of public school prime sponsorship (the delegating of responsibility for a national child care program to the public schools). The bulk of the book consists of descriptions of the development and functioning of the 5 day care programs. Each program profile includes information about history, administrative structure, financing, personnel, coordination with elementary schools, and parent involvement. Following the profiles is a discussion which draws out implicit programmatic comparisons in the profiles and reviews their implications for the development of national day care policy. Chapter VI examines the current politics of day care and suggests why the most significant activities in the near future may be on the local rather than the national level. (Author/CM)