A federal court in Washington, D.C., last month delivered an important victory to the U.S. Department of Education by ruling decisively in favor of the department's motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to nullify the work of a public "negotiated rulemaking" committee. The committee was established to help draft regulations under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.

"From the outset, we were confident that we had carefully and properly constructed an appropriate group of educators, parents and others to help develop these new rules," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "All groups have had numerous opportunities to give their views–and many have done so. We will continue to move forward without delay to implement the provisions of the law, enabling us all to work together to raise student achievement and demand accountability."

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed that the composition of the NCLB negotiated rulemaking committee violated federal law by failing to adequately represent the interests of parents and children. The department maintained that the committee was lawfully composed and fully included the perspectives of students, parents and educators.

In addition to ensuring the representation of students and parents on the committee itself, the department asserted that it also provided ample opportunity for parents to provide input for the new rules by conducting public focus groups just after the landmark legislation was signed by President Bush on Jan. 8. This included: providing public comment opportunities during five days of negotiated rulemaking committee meetings outside of Washington, D.C.; hosting five regional meetings across the nation on the new proposed rules developed by the negotiated rulemaking committee; and offering the proposed rules for written public comment over a period of 30 days.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates denied the plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order and dismissed the motion for a preliminary injunction. After hearing the plaintiff's oral arguments, the court ruled that they did not meet the standard for a preliminary injunction and vindicated the Education Department on all counts, handing it a complete victory on May 22.

In his ruling, the judge also explained that under Section 570 of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, Congress did not authorize judicial review of the formation of such panels and that the creation of panels for the purpose of drafting rules is not considered "final agency action" and therefore is not subject to court challenge.

The ruling can be viewed at the clerk of the court's Web site at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/district-court.html

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