This paper explores some of the outcomes at a local level arising from the policy and service delivery changes to special education in New Zealand. Aspects of "Special Education 2000" (1996) are critically discussed and two problems arising from the policy components are pinpointed. The first is the failure of the discourse of educational rights in shaping the continuity of services to students with special educational needs. The second is the dominance of the managerial discourse over school leadership and governance with respect to these students. This examination is contextualized by discussion of a legal challenge resulting from the policy implementation.