This publication attempts to simplify the complex issue of declining enrollment and surplus school space. Part 1 is devoted to a thorough discussion of enrollment decline. Text and tables are used to explain enrollment projections, large city public school enrollment decline, birthrates, population mobility, expenditures for education, and the number of defeated school bond elections. Expectations and assumptions about schools and how these will be affected by societal changes are discussed. Part 2 discusses some of the factors inhibiting new uses for school facilities and offers suggestions for using school space that do not conflict, or conflict very little, with the current definition of "normal" education. This is followed by exploring alternative definitions of "normal" education and using facilities for alternative forms of schooling, retraining people for mid-life career changes, lifelong learning centers, and industrial training programs. Six sketches illustrate the proposed conversion of Niles East High School in Skokie, Illinois, to create 125 apartments, a community art center, and a community recreation center. (Author/MLF)