Supreme Court rules on Indian Impact Aid case

Thursday, April 19, 2007  

In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the Impact Aid program for Indian students.

Two school districts in New Mexico challenged the way the Department of Education allocates the money. They said they were losing $20 million a year, funds that could help them educate Indian students.

The court disagreed. The majority opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer said the department's calculation formula is reasonable and entitled to deference.

The minority included three of the most conservative justices on the court. In a dissent authored by Justice Scalia and joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice David Souter, they said the federal Impact Aid law "clearly and unambiguously forecloses" the department's methodology so it is entitled to "zero deference."

Get the Story:
Funding challenge: School districts lose case (AP 4/19)
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Zuni Public School District v. Department of Education:
Syllabus | Opinion [Breyer] | Concurrence [Stevens] | Dissent [Scalia] | Dissent [Souter]

Zuni Public School District Documents:
Questions Presented | Petition | New Mexico Brief in Opposition | Department of Justice Brief in Opposition

Relevant Links:
NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://doc.narf.org/sc/index.html
Impact Aid - http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/impactaid
National Indian Education Association - http://www.niea.org

School districts fight for bigger share of Impact Aid (9/28)
High court prepares for upcoming term (9/27)
Impact aid for Native students was $2K in 2003 (2/17)