Career and technical education (CTE) can provide significant benefits to students with disabilities. Research shows that students with disabilities in secondary CTE programs were less likely to drop out and more likely to be employed, to have paid competitive jobs, and to work full time after high school, especially if they were mainstreamed and provided that they had work experience in their high school CTE programs. Four federal laws define the rights of students with disabilities: two federal civil rights laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, require access and prohibit discrimination for students with disabilities in all federally funded programs and public education programs. The 1998 Perkins Act requires equal access for special populations to all vocational programs, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended in 1997, establishes the right of students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education and mandates Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities. To meet the students' needs, CTE teachers need background information on students' disabilities and on appropriate accommodations. CTE teachers help develop IEPs, instruct students with disabilities, and provide appropriate work-based experience. Thus, a CTE teacher is one member of a team helping students with disabilities participate fully and meaningfully in high quality education, providing a strong mix of academic, functional, and occupational programs carefully linked to each other and to work experience and delivered with customized accommodations to meet the students' individualized needs. (Contains 14 references.) (KC)