Law & Courts

High Court to Hear Impact-Aid Case

By Jessica L. Tonn — December 12, 2006 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in a case filed by two New Mexico school districts that object to the way the U.S. secretary of education calculates which districts are eligible to receive impact aid for educating children who live on federal land or near federal installations.

In Zuni Public School District No. 89 v. Department of Education (Case No. 05-1508), the districts argue that the secretary violates a federal statute for determining which states can consider federal impact aid when allocating operating funds to districts. Both districts contain Indian reservation land.

The federal formula hinges on whether states have “equalized” funding systems, meaning that the disparity in per-pupil revenue between their wealthiest and poorest districts, excluding the top and bottom 5 percent, is less than 25 percent. A state with an equalized system can reduce funding to a district by the amount of the federal impact aid the district receives.

The districts contend that the secretary’s formula for determining therichest and poorest school systems contains an extraneous step that eliminates districts based on their attendance numbers. As a result, they say, 23 of the 89 districts in the state were eliminated even before the disparity test was applied, and the department unfairly labeled New Mexico as an equalized state.

According to the districts, the disparity between the richest and poorest districts is more than 25 percent when calculated by per-pupil revenues alone. By their calculation, only 10 school systems, should have been eliminated from the two ends of the scale.

Seeking Compensation

In its initial brief in the Supreme Court, the Bush administration defended the department’s procedure, saying that although the impact-aid statute sets forth the parameters for calculating state public education or revenues under the disparity test, the law does not contain a specific implementation of the disparity test.

The case is scheduled for arguments on Jan. 10.

See Also

The case comes against the backdrop of a push by Western states on the compensation issue. In Utah, educators are hoping that lawmakers will use the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act to change the definition of districts that can be compensated for having significant proportions of federal land within their boundaries.

Patti Harrington, Utah’s state superintendent of public instruction, sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, last month detailing her concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act, including the state’s loss of revenue from federal property.

“Utah recommends language such as: ‘When 50 percent or more of a school district’s land is owned by the federal government, this becomes an additional qualifier for impact-aid funding,’ ” she wrote.

A version of this article appeared in the December 13, 2006 edition of Education Week as High Court to Hear Impact-Aid Case

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts In 1974, the Supreme Court Recognized English Learners' Rights. The Story Behind That Case
The Lau v. Nichols ruling said students have a right to a "meaningful opportunity" to participate in school, but its legacy is complex.
12 min read
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William O. Douglas is shown in an undated photo.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, shown in an undated photo, wrote the opinion in <i>Lau</i> v. <i>Nichols</i>, the 1974 decision holding that the San Francisco school system had denied Chinese-speaking schoolchildren a meaningful opportunity to participate in their education.
AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines to Hear School District's Transgender Restroom Case
The case asked whether federal law protects transgender students on the use of school facilities that correspond to their gender identity.
4 min read
People stand on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
People stand on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Law & Courts What a Proposed Ban on AI-Assisted ‘Deep Fakes’ Would Mean for Cyberbullying
Students who create AI-generated, intimate images of their classmates would be breaking federal law, if a new bill is enacted.
2 min read
AI Education concept in blue: A robot hand holding a pencil.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines Case on Corporal Punishment for Student With Autism
The justices refused to hear the appeal of an 11-year-old Louisiana student who alleges that two educators slapped her on her wrists.
3 min read
The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 10, 2023.
The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 10, 2023.
Patrick Semansky/AP