Recent Decisions-Supreme Court Decisions
Final Decision
DOCKET NO.: 05-1508
NAME: Zuni Public School District No. 89 v. Department of Education
DATE: April 17th, 2007
School district sued the Department of Education claiming that the regulations passed for calculating aid under the Federal Impact Aid Program -were inconsistent with the authorizing statute. Under the statute, states may not reduce local expenditures to offset the amount received from the federal government. An exception to this rule is allowed in cases where the Secretary finds that allowing the State to reduce expenditures in select school districts furthers the goal of equalizing expenditures among all local school districts. The formula, under the regulation, says that the Secretary must disregard school districts with per-pupil expenditures above the 95th percentile or below the 5th percentile. The school district did not claim that the Secretary's calculations were incorrect, only that the regulations that provide this formula were inconsistent with the authorizing statute. Held: The Supreme Court held that the regulations were consistent with the authorizing statute. The Supreme Court held that the regulations provided a reasonable method for the Secretary to carry out the likely intent of Congress in creating the aid program. Furthermore the Court found that the method employed by the Secretary to calculate whether a State's program equalized expenditures amongst local school districts fell within the scope of the statute's plain language. Zuni Public School District No. 89 v. Department of Education, 127 S.Ct. 1534 (2007)
Review Denied
Decisions without published opinions in the lower court:
DOCKET NO.: 06-780
NAME: Davis v. George Mason University
DATE: Feb. 20th, 2007
CITATION: cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 1326 (2007)
DOCKET NO.: 06-799
NAME: D.T. v. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education
DATE: Mar. 19th, 2007
CITATION: cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 1830 (2007)
DOCKET NO.: 06-1114
NAME: Nwadiogbu v. Dep't of Education
DATE: Apr. 2nd, 2007
CITATION: cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 1919 (2007)
DOCKET NO.: 06-1174
NAME: Horwitz v. Illinois State Board of Education
DATE: Apr. 30th, 2007
CITATION: cert. denied, 75 U.S.L.W. 3582 (2007)
Decisions with published opinions in the lower court:
DOCKET NO.: 06-271
NAME: Skoros v. New York City
DATE: Feb. 20th, 2007
CITATION: 127 S.Ct. 1245 (2007)
Parent brought suit challenging the city's policy on holiday displays at public schools. The plaintiff claimed that the policy, which did not allow for the display of a crèche or nativity scene, violated her and her children's rights under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. The same policy allowed for the display of a menorah and the star and crescent, as well as a Christmas tree. The stated goal of the policy was to allow secular holiday symbols, and ban displays that promoted or celebrated any single religion or holiday. …
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