There is considerable concern in the United States today about the health of this nation's school children. Various plans, including the direct delivery of primary health care in the public schools, are being suggested. School health care in the United States traditionally has stressed health inspection, assessment, and first aid. However, school health programs that delivered primary health care, including dental care, always have existed, though they represented a distinctly minority tradition. Since the 1960s, the number and scope of these programs have expanded. At the present time new approaches to delivering primary health care in the public schools are being attempted. Other proposals are emerging from the federal government and from private foundations.