Judicial Interpretation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Special Education in America: Its Legal and Governmental Foundations Series

The paper examines current judicial interpretations of selected policy and implementation issues concerning P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Court cases are analyzed according to the following six principles of the legislation (sample subtopics in parentheses): zero reject--the right of handicapped children to be included in a free, appropriate, publicly supported educational system (expulsion and suspension, residential placement costs, minimum competency testing); nondiscriminatory evaluation; individualized and appropriate education (related services, extended school year); least restrictive educational placement; procedural due process (availability of due process hearings, exhaustion of administrative remedies); and parent participation in decisionmaking. The principles are described and relevant judicial interpretations noted. A summary section notes that with the courts' insistence, schools are learning to individualize education for exceptional children. The paper concludes with four hypothetical cases in which readers are asked to consider legal implications and the application of P.L. 94-142 as well as of court cases. (CL)