What is the state's obligation to provide special education for children with special needs?

Federal regulations require that the state provide the handicapped with regular or special education and related aids and services that "are designed to meet the individual educational needs of handicapped persons as adequately as the needs of nonhandicapped persons are met...." 45 C.F.R. 84.33(b)(1) (i). That special help should be provided in the least restrictive environment responsive to the child's individual needs, 45 C.F.R. 121a.55; Stuart v. Nappi, 443 F.Supp. 1235, 1242 (D.Conn.1978). To "the maximum extent appropriate", handicapped children should be "educated with children who are not handicapped". The state must assure that "special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of handicapped children from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids cannot be achieved satisfactorily". 20 U.S.C. 1412(5)(B).

B. The Severe Discrepancy Standard