The last 2 decades of the 20th century have witnessed a growing movement to reform the American education system. While people debate why and how reform should be accomplished new initiatives are being developed and applied in many different areas: student performance standards, curricular innovation, assessment, accountability, professional development, school finance, interagency cooperation, shared governance, collaborative work structures, and deregulation. This monograph was designed to help school attorneys in their efforts to advise school boards on the legal issues that accompany various reform measures. It covers school finance, school choice, site-based management, privatization, alternative schools, charter schools, and tenure reform. Constitutional dilemmas, statutory issues, and labor-relations issues are also examined. (LMI)