Just before the sixth anniversary of the controversial No Child Left Behind law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Secretary Spellings is violating the Spending Clause of the Constitution by requiring states and school districts to spend their own funds to comply with the law.

The National Education Association, nine school districts and nine NEA state affiliates  brought the lawsuit in April 2005 to oppose costly federal regulations that divert money from children and classrooms to paperwork and bureaucracy.

At issue in the case was Section 9527(a) of the law that says, "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."

NEA and the other plaintiffs had argued in their complaint that this section of the law prevents the federal government from requiring states and school districts to spend their own funds to comply with the law's mandates.

The lawsuit argued that any federal mandates in this law must come with tools and resources to get the job done. Otherwise, educators can't be expected to do more with less. The court agreed, holding that the Education Department's interpretations of NCLB, requiring that states and school districts devote their own funds to NCLB compliance, "violate the Spending Clause."

"It's time for the Secretary to comply with the law and the Constitution," said NEA President Reg Weaver. "If the Bush administration won't ensure that states and schools have the federal funds needed to implement the law, then they must cease with threats to punish states and districts who cannot comply due to lack of federal funds." 

The lack of funding at issue in the lawsuit is just one aspect of NCLB that has come under increased fire recently. Parents, teachers and lawmakers have called for reform because of the law's obsessive focus on standardized testing, heavy-handed punishments and bureaucratic protocols.

Read more about NCLB and the reauthorization process.

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