Rules on Special-Needs Students in Voc. Ed. Blocked

By Meg Sommerfeld

Washington

With a provision attached to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Congress has laid to rest--at least temporarily--a pitched battle over the extent to which special-needs students should be guaranteed access to vocational programs and federal vocational-education funding.

The legislation, which Congress sent to President Clinton last week, bars the Education Department from issuing new regulations before the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act...