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The article reports on the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Policy Statements approved by the Delegate Assembly in the U.S. The Organization and Administration for Special Education policy statement is prepared by the CEC Policies Commission and is originally derived from a paper by Ernest Willenberg. Such statements suggest some of the major principles on which a special education administrative organization should be based. Special education shares with regular education the basic responsibility of public educational systems to fulfill their right to education for every child.

The article presents the text of the position paper entitled "Basic Commitments and Responsibilities to Exceptional Children," a statement prepared by the Council for Exceptional Children Policies Commission and approved by the 1971 Delegate Assembly in the U.S. The contents of the statement include: the goal and commitment of special education; implementation of universal education; special education within the schools; the school and the family; the responsibility of higher education; and the levels of government responsibility for the support of special education.

The article reports that the board of governors of the Council for Exceptional Children has authorized the establishment of (1) a policy commission, (2) a standing committee on professional standards and (3) an ad hoc study committee on professional membership requirements. The policy commission would be charged with developing basic papers on selected topics regarding basic papers on selected topics regarding policy positions in situations concerned with the education of exceptional children. The commission would report to the executive committee and boards of directors, and policy statements developed would come before the delegate assembly for adoption. The continuing committee on professional standards is established to (1) consider possible revisions and refinements of the professional standards report adopted by the delegate assembly in Toronto and (2) explore a possible means of implementation of the report.