At five public hearings in San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver, Boston, and Cincinnati, representatives of state and local governments and of public and private education systems and other interested witnesses were asked for their viewpoints on three questions: (1) the role of the federal government in American education; (2) the effects of Chapter 2--the Block Grant provisions--of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981; and (3) tuition tax credit proposals. A summary of viewpoints on the three agenda questions is provided, followed by the council's recommendations for further inquiry and study of education in the intergovernmental setting. The appendix contains a list of hearings participants and of those who submitted testimony in writing. (MLF)