By deciding some cases and refusing others, the United States Supreme Court has begun to provide answers to some of the legal questions concerning the interpretation of two federal statutes: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142). The first of these statutes imposes a duty on recipients of federal funds to avoid discriminating against "otherwise qualified" handicapped persons. In Southeastern Community College v. Davis, the Court determined that "otherwise qualified" meant qualified "in spite of a handicap." The ruling in this case has since served as a standard in several other cases. The Court refused to review some cases involving alleged violations of Public Law 94-142, despite the apparent disregard by lower courts of a related Court decision that disallowed the establishment by Congress of retroactive conditions on acceptance of federal funds. The Court did determine in Board v. Rowley that Public Law 94-142 provided an adequate definition of the "free appropriate public education" it mandated, a definition involving the provision of personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit affected children to benefit educationally, though not guaranteeing a particular level of education. (Author/PGD)