Educational quality and the organizational structure of the nation's educational system are examined in relation to the call for reform in American public education in this symposium paper. In "Introduction and Problem Statement," Robert H. Beach states that problems in American education stem from a structurally dysfunctional system, are not isolated and specific as the literature suggests, and should be viewed and treated in a holistic fashion. Three papers were presented at the symposium. First, "The School Finance Perspective" (Ronald A. Lindahl) examines school finance in relation to philosophical, legal, governance, structural, and planning concerns in education. Second, "The Perspective from Planning and Organizational Theory" (William D. McInerney) examines the public school administrator's use of a rational comprehensive model in educational planning and describes the limited applicability of that model to educational organizations. Finally, "The Perspective That Schools Cannot Be Improved Until the Defects of Their Systemic Organizations Are Removed" (A. W. VanderMeer) focuses on intellectual development, socialization, and custodial functions in schools, and states that schools are organized in such a way as to frustrate attempts to achieve improvements in the performance of these functions. Included in the paper are 31 references. (WTH)