I installed steady state on elementary computers in lab...I only started with 4 to be sure they work correctly...I need to keep the kids from changing the background AND deleting shortcuts off of the desktop. Something happenend and the computer won't log in correctly...it logs in under a default setting instead of the setting that I set up???

Hi, have you enabled Windows Disk Protection on the computer? From the post, it seems that WDP defaults the settings and those settings are missing on it. For such scenario, it may happen if the computer is not turned off properly or power failure is encountered.Sean Zhu - MSFT

I have not enabled the WDP. I noticed that if I limit user settings without "locking" the profile from permanent changes, then it will load the user setting correctly??

Have you tried a 'Mandatory Profile'?