A significant number of child and adolescent psychiatry patients have special needs in the school setting. Their access to appropriate services is guided by public school law which has evolved considerably over the course of the last 45 years. This evolution, and the related growth in school mediation and litigation often leave child and adolescent psychiatrists bewildered by an array of changing terminology that nonetheless remains highly relevant to the needs of their patients. This Workshop provides a historical review of public school law clarifying its origins in regular education law, civil rights law, and disabilities law and the evolution of these origins to the present working guidelines for students with special educational needs.