Stand Up For Children: Pontiac v. Spellings

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law says the federal government must pay for the rules and regulations it is imposing on our nation's public schools. But Washington lawmakers haven't done so.

In January 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with NEA and other plaintiffs that states and local districts simply can't be required to spend their own money to comply with the federal law.

Due to President Bush's recent veto of the FY 2008 education appropriations bill, there will be a $14.8 billion gap in funding for NCLB programs. That is on top of the previous cumulative gap of $56.1 billion.

A diverse network of schools that said "No more" to paying the costs of Washington's regulations teamed up with the NEA to file the first national lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on April 20, 2005. With this lawsuit, local communities are simply asking the Bush administration to allow parents to spend hard-earned tax dollars on their children's classrooms -- not bureaucracy, paperwork and testing companies.

On Nov. 23, 2005, Judge Friedman of the United States District Court for the Eastern Court of Michigan on Nov. 23, 2005 granted the government's motion to dismiss Pontiac, et al., v. Spellings. In his ruling, Judge Friedman did reject the government's argument that the plaintiffs lack legal standing to bring the lawsuit. The complete eight-page ruling is available here (PDF, 29KB, 8 pages ).

But NEA appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court reversed Judge Friedman's ruling. NEA's appeal argued that the district court decision "was both misplaced and unfounded" and cites extensive legislative history to support the plaintiffs' interpretation of Sec. 9527(a), which prohibits unfunded mandates.

NEA announced on April 3, 2006 that six states and the District of Columbia, the Governor of Pennsylvania, school administrators, and state and local elected officials have filed amicus "friend of the court" briefs supporting NEA's legal appeal.

The Secretary of Education appealed the Circuit Court panel's decision, asking for an "en banc" rehearing, a hearing before the full Circuit Court. On June 13, NEA filed a supplemental brief for the en banc rehearing (PDF, 180KB, 33 pages ). The NEA brief argues that the Circuit Court panel was correct in overturning Judge Friedman's district court ruling of Nov. 23, 2005. It notes, among other things, that former Secretary of Education Rod Paige specifically told states that anything not funded by NCLB was not required.

Copies of briefs from the following are available online: Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (PDF, 911KB, 36 pages), Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (PDF, 140KB, 36 pages), American Association of School Administrators (PDF, 132KB, 33 pages ), and California State and Local Officials (PDF, 266KB, 23 pages ).

The Promise

"Nothing in this Act shall be construed to... mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act."
- No Child Left Behind Act, Section 9527(a)

From the People Involved...

Impact on States

Inadequate federal funding has taken its toll around the country. Find out more about how federal budget shortfalls are leaving students behind.

Each year costly federal regulations jeopardize public school programs because schools and districts miss arbitrary, unrealistic targets. Sometimes the reason for federal penalties is just absurd.