The thesis advanced in this paper is that the American legal system is responsible for changing the course of public education and is causing two separate educational systems, one private and the other public, to develop. Court cases and laws cited show that generally the U. S. Supreme Court, the Congress, and state legislatures have left private education alone while forcing public schools to redress social wrongs and to act as instruments of entitlement. The result has been a greater distribution of funds in the public sector for "special problems" as well as a lower per-pupil cost for the more typical children who comprise the bulk of students requiring goods and services for their educational development. (Author/MLF)