To any professional concerned with exceptional children, it would be the greatest understatement to say that the courts and legislatures have had a tremendous impact on the field of speeial education. Especially in the last decade, a flood of litigation filed to develop and define the right to education of previously unserved handicapped children has left no special education teacher, school adminis­ trator, nurse, educational psychologist, or pediatrician unaffected-either be­ cause these professionals are daily called upon to help children, or because they may come forward as witnesses on behalf of children who are the subjects of special education meetings, individualized education programs, placement hear­ ings, or judicial proceedings. Thus, for these people, questions regarding a student's legal rights are immediate and pervasive. This book developed out of the need to provide nonlegal professionals with a lawyer's view of the huge body of court cases and federal laws and regulations that affect their practice as well as their students and clients. An introductory chapter provides the historical basis of the current interface between law and special education. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and Sec­ tion 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and their regulations promulgated in 1977, are the major national laws in the field ~nd are therefore described in Chapters 2 and 3.

1 Introduction.- 1.1. The Background.- 1.2. The Right to Education for Retarded Children: Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.- 1.3. Districtwide Relief for All Handicapped Students: Mills v. Board of Education, District of Columbia.- 1.4. Programs for Newly Identified Children: Frederick L. v. Thomas.- 1.5. Notes.- 2 A National Right to Education: The Education for all Handicapped Children act.- 2.1. An Overview.- 2.2. Court-Ordered Implementation of P.L. 94-142: Mattie T. v. Holladay.- 2.3. Free Appropriate Public Education.- 2.4. Handicapped Children.- 2. 5. Individualized Education Program.- 2.6. Due Process Procedures.- 2.7. Appeals.- 2.8. Surrogate Parents.- 2.9. Evaluations.- 2.10. Least Restrictive Environment.- 2.11. Least Restrictive Environment and the Courts: The Willowbrook Case.- 2.12. Confidentiality of Records.- 2.13. Excluding Persons without a Legitimate Educational Interest: The Government Requirements.- 2.14. Notes.- 3 Prohibiting Discrimination against Handicapped Students.- 3.1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.- 3.2. Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education.- 3.3. The Integration Requirement.- 3.4. Court-Ordered Integration: Hairston v. Drosick.- 3.5. Evaluation Procedures.- 3.6. Nonacademic Services.- 3.7. Postsecondary Education.- 3.8. Auxiliary Aids.- 3.9. Access to Postsecondary Programs: Southeastern Community College v. Davis.- 3.10. Other Section 504 Provisions.- 3.11. Notes.- 4 The Special Education Hearing: Preparation and Litigation.- 4.1. The Purpose of a Hearing.- 4.2. Preparation for the Hearing.- 4.3. At the Hearing.- 4.4. The Hearing Officer.- 4.5. The Opening Statement.- 4.6. The Presentation of Witnesses.- 4.7. The Testimony of School District Officials.- 4.8. Medical Testimony.- 4.9. The Psychological Testimony.- 4.10. The Parent as a Witness.- 4.11. Cross-Examination.- 4.12. Closing Statement.- 4.13. Appeals.- 4.14. Model Exceptions.- 4.15. Appeal to Court.- 4.16. Notes.- 5 Major Issues in Special Education Law.- 5.1. Continuous Special Education.- 5.2. Discipline and Special Education.- 5.3. Language and Racial Minorities.- 5.4. Special Education Malpractice.- 5.5. Gifted and Talented Children.- 5.6. Notes.- Appendix 1 Federal Requirements for the Education of all Handicapped Children (20 U.S.C.

1401-1420).- Appendix 2 P.L. 94-142 Regulations (34 C.F.R. PART 300).- Appendix 3 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
794).- Appendix 4 Section 504 Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 104).- Appendix 5 Legal Organizations.