This report on the governance of public education in Washington, D.C. describes issues and conflicts that have arisen since the 19th century among the agencies which have exercised various forms and degrees of authority and responsibility for education in the District: The Board of School Trustees or Board of Education; the central city government; the Superintendent of Schools after 1869; and the Federal government, especially Congress. The report discusses the issues in the context of social and political developments and changes in the structure of public education through the years. The sources of conflict have included budgetary considerations, the power to appoint officials, the issue of divided authority, and in recent years, the civil rights revolution, school desegregation, and the struggle for home rule. The study suggests that 1) school governance conflicts arise mainly from the system of divided authority; 2) the periods of greatest turmoil in the schools have been those in which the schools have had to confront social changes in the city; 3) school governance struggles have often had harmful effects on the children; and 4) attempts to eliminate current problems by altering the school governance structure should be based on knowledge of the city's historical experience. (Author/MJL)