United States Sixth Circuit

In school districts' suit against the Secretary of Education seeking, inter alia, a judgment declaring that they need not comply with the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) requirements where federal funds do not cover the increased costs of compliance, dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is reversed where: 1) statutes enacted under the Spending Clause must provide clear notice to the States of their liabilities should they decide to accept federal funding under those statutes; and 2) the NCLB fails to provide clear notice as to who bears the additional costs of compliance.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/07/2008
• Published 01/07/2008

Judges

• Before:  BATCHELDER, Chief Judge;  MARTIN, BOGGS, DAUGHTREY, MOORE, COLE, CLAY, GILMAN, GIBBONS, ROGERS, SUTTON, COOK, McKEAGUE, GRIFFIN, KETHLEDGE, and WHITE, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Robert H. Chanin, Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellants.  Alisa B. Klein, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Robert H. Chanin, Jeremiah A. Collins, Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., Dennis R. Pollard, Thrum Law Firm, P.C., Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Alice Margaret O'Brien, California Teachers Association, Burlingame, California, Philip A. Hostak, Office of General Counsel, National Education Association, Washington, D.C., for Appellants.  Alisa B. Klein, Mark B. Stern, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.