'No Child' Lawsuit Tossed Out

A federal judge in Detroit dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday aimed at forcing the U.S. government to pay for programs associated with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman's ruling is a defeat for Pontiac, Mich. schools and districts in Texas and Vermont that had filed suit in April against U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, and its affiliates in 10 states backed the lawsuit, and the NEA said Wednesday it plans to appeal.

The lawsuit, the first major legal challenge to President Bush's signature education policy, aimed to free schools from complying with any part of the No Child Left Behind law that is not paid for by the federal government.

"We still feel this is a mandate without funds," said Mildred Mason, Pontiac superintendent. "It's going to be a struggle in our district and many other districts."

In his ruling, Friedman said that if Congress had intended for federal funding to pay for all of the law's requirements it would have said so.

The law "cannot reasonably be 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," Friedman wrote.

Spellings applauded the judge's ruling.

"This is a victory for children and parents all across the country," she said. "Chief Judge Friedman's decision validates our partnership with states to close the achievement gap, hold schools accountable and to ensure all students are reading and doing math at grade-level by 2014."