A century or more of reform in urban services, including schooling, has seen a competition over four core values: quality, equity, efficiency, and choice. These four are not always mutually compatible. Quality opposes equity and choice but is reinforced by efficiency, which is supported by equity. The choice value is incompatible with all the others. The order of quality, efficiency, and equity acts as a general sequence in policy-making while choice operates at every stage. The value-organization linkage means that a value underlying an educational policy produces a "bias" toward a particular type of organizational structure. Table 1 suggests different sets of linkages. Quality, efficiency and equity proponents prefer a centralized administration and a unitary decision making system. Choice proponents prefer fragmented decisionmaking and decentralized administration. Examples of core values that were promoted in school and other urban service reforms during the 19th century are provided. Adherence to one set of values required a distinct type of organization. Each value-organization linkage carries a set of costs that can be obscured by its proclaimed benefits. (39 references) (EJS)