Legal Clips, [December 2005]
A Michigan federal district court has dismissed the National Education Association's (NEA) lawsuit challenging the mandatory testing provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as an unfunded mandate in violation of the NCLB provision at 20 U.S.C. § 7907(a) (2005) that prohibits federal officials and employees from imposing mandates not paid for under NCLB. Although the district court found that NEA had plead sufficient facts to establish standing to bring the suit, it rejected NEA's contention that 20 U.S.C. § 7907(a) prevents the U.S. Department of Education (ED) from requiring states and local school districts to perform annual standardized testing unless the federal government provides 100% of the funds necessary to pay for the testing. Instead, the court read the section NEA relied on as the basis for its suit as merely prohibiting federal officials and employees from "imposing additional "[u]nfunded requirements, beyond those provided for in the statute." It pointed out that had Congress intended to prohibit unfunded mandates it would have omitted the words "an officer or employee of" from 20 U.S.C. § 7907(a) or included statutory language requiring the federal government to reimburse states for all costs incurred complying with NCLB's requirements. As a result, the district court ruled that 20 U.S.C. § 7907(a) could not be "reasonably interpreted to prohibit Congress itself from offering federal funds on the condition that States and school districts comply with the many statutory requirements, such as devising and administering tests, improving test scores, and training teachers."

School District of the City of Pontiac v. Spellings, No. 05-71535 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 23, 2005)

[Editor's Note: Connecticut has also filed a lawsuit challenged NCLB's "unfunded mandates." Responding to dismissal of NEA's suit, Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, told the Hartford Courant that the Michigan federal district court's ruling is "wrong and in no way legally binding on our lawsuit in Connecticut." He also denounced the Michigan court's decision for creating "a preposterous loophole, holding that federal officials purportedly do not impose unfunded mandates, but Congress does." To view the complete Hartford Courant article, access the link below. For background information on NEA's and Connecticut's lawsuits, access the respective links below.]

Hartford Courant
By Staff
[Link to full story]

[NSBA School Law pages on NEA NCLB lawsuit]
[NSBA BoardBuzz on NEA NCLB lawsuit]
[NSBA School Law pages on Connecticut NCLB lawsuit]