Examining U.S. Supreme Court reaction to NCLB: Connecticut and Pontiac as case studies

This dissertation examines the U.S. Supreme Court's reaction to two legal cases concerning the No Child Left Behind Law and the issue of unfunded federal mandates such as testing requirements. The study uses the legal cases of Connecticut v. Spellings (2005) and School District of the City of Pontiac v. Secretary of the United States Department of Education (2005) as case studies to examine what factors or variables influenced the nation's highest court to deny writ of certiorari concerning the issue of unfunded mandates. The study is also concerned with how states are meeting funding requirements that are unfunded mandates in light of current economic challenges they face.