The No Child Left Behind Act: Is it an Unfunded Mandate or a Promotion of Federal Educational Ideals?

The National Education Association, along with several local associations and school districts, brought this debate to the federal court system in 2005 in School District of Pontiac v. Spellings.2 In 2006, the State of Connecticut filed Connecticut v. Spellings, making similar allegations.3 These lawsuits argue that the federal government, represented by the Secretary of Education, is overstepping its authority in its regulation of state and local education practices under NCLB by requiring compliance with the law's provisions even if federal funding is not sufficient to cover all of these expenses.