The outgoing president of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, (NASDSE), voices his concerns over trends in special education. He notes the lack of attention devoted to speech education in the most recent reports on the status of education, suggests the existence of a subtle attitude of complacency regarding achievements for handicapped children, and questions the possibility that compliance is equated with excellence. He fears that traditional questions of educational parity may be reduced to issues of simple lost-benefit criteria and that emphasis on evaluation may be used to rationalize reducing or eliminating P.L. 94-142, the Education For All Handicapped Children Act. (CL)