The Loophole in Public Law 94-142

Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, promises that no school aged pupil will be denied a free appropriate public education because of a handicapping condition. The authors propose that by regulatory exclusion, o great population of students with behavior disorders do not have this federally mandated guarantee and will continue to be at the mercy of local school districts, which may or may not choose to accept the responsibility for their education. Public Law 94-142 qualifies “emotionally disturbed” with the word “seriously,” implying no responsibility for the moderately disturbed child. The law further specifically excludes “socially maladjusted” unless they are “seriously emotionally disturbed.” The door is open for school districts to systematically exclude large numbers of behaviorally disordered students from special education classes and from school itself.