Judge Dismisses NEA Lawsuit Challenging Costs of No Child Left Behind Act

A federal judge has thrown out a major legal challenge to the federal No Child Left Behind Act brought by the National Education Association, several of its affiliates, and nine school districts, ruling that Congress may require states and school districts to spend their own money to comply with the school-improvement law.

Judge Bernard A. Friedman of U.S. District Court in Detroit agreed with lawyers for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who was the named defendant in the lawsuit, that the plaintiffs’ suit failed to state a valid federal claim.

The suit hinges on a provision of the No Child Left Behind law that says “nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the federal government to … mandate a state or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid...