Changes in the overall conditions of children as indicated by income, family structure and background, health, and other measures warrant a reassessment of the delivery of children's services and a reconsideration of the school role. Children's conditions and their implications for educational administrative policy are examined in this paper. The current educational system, based on inadequate single policy solutions that result in underservice and fragmentation, requires a fundamental rethinking. Short-term efforts of various states that have reconceptualized the purpose of children's services are briefly described. A crucial long-term goal incorporates a changed perspective that recognizes the child within the context of the larger social system and views the school as the nexus of institutional networks. From this perspective, the school role changes from deliverer of educational resources to that of broker of multiple resources. (15 references) (LMI)