This country has few highly qualified personnel to fulfill the various state commitments to legislation mandating effective vocational programs for two special populations, i.e., persons discriminated against on the basis of racial/ethnic identity and the physically handicapped. The result of a lack of national policy in this area has been a leadership void, and the efforts that have been made in personnel preparation and professional development have been piecemeal and token. Ten alternative solutions to the problem have been proposed and analyzed. Based on the comparisons of advantages and disadvantages, the policy alternatives determined to be the most effective for improving personnel preparation are the following: (1) the U.S. Department of Education should mandate statewide comprehensive programs of personnel development, including a system for preservice, graduate, and inservice activities for teachers and administrators who work with minority and handicapped students; (2) a fixed percentage of each state's basic grant should be designed for professional development and personnel preparation; (3) the Congress and U.S. Department of Education should make grants through state agencies to provide opportunities to update the competencies of vocational education personnel who serve special populations; and (4) the Congress and U.S. Department of Education should reestablish the Leadership Development Program to train administrators and to retrain personnel from other fields to work with special populations in vocational education. (KC)