This paper identifies the educational problems confronting homeless children, describes the Federal response to these problems, and discusses challenges for the 1990s. Although homeless children want to go to school more often than their permanently housed peers, they typically confront significant obstacles to access because of local enrollment requirements, including problems involving residency, guardianship, special education, school records, and transportation. Beyond access, the most serious educational problems for homeless children are poor school attendance and poor academic performance. The principle Federal response has been the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, 1987, which aimed to facilitate integrating homeless children into existing public school systems and programs. Title VII, Subtitle B of the McKinney Act guarantees homeless children access to public education and provides Federal funding to states to implement this policy. Challenges that remain unmet relative to McKinney Act homeless education measures include the following: (1) noncompliance at both state and Federal levels, arising from the Act's failure to provide a statutory guarantee for a free and appropriate education for homeless children; (2) failure to ensure that homeless children receive adequate educational services once they are enrolled in school; and (3) inadequate funding levels for educational services. A list of 21 references is appended. (AF)