Currently 1,800 adolescents reside in Ohio reform schools, which are overcrowded and focused on control rather than treatment and rehabilitation. In contrast, juvenile justice reform in Utah has sharply reduced the secure placement of youths and the development of an effective network of community placements for most troubled youth. The increasing numbers of disadvantaged, disruptive, and educationally needy children show the need for national education reform to complement juvenile justice reform. Needed reforms include school leadership to reduce the number of dropouts, suspensions, and expulsions; handling of truancy as a school-related problem and not just a symptom of social problems that the school cannot control; advocacy for juveniles who enter the juvenile justice system; improved teacher training; and increased remedial and compensatory programs in regular classrooms. Special educators are in a good position to lead the educational reforms and should advocate a noncategorical approach to services based on the learning needs of all students and not just those labeled as handicapped. 5 references