Supreme Court Orders Re-Evaluation of English Language Learner Case 

Washington, D.C. – The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and its affiliates—the Asian American Institute of Chicago, Ill., Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco, Calif. and Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Los Angeles, Calif.—express their disappointment in the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the matter of Horne v. Flores and Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives v. Flores, which involved a challenge against the adequacy of English Language Learner (ELL) programs in an Arizona school district. AAJC, its affiliates, NCLR and 17 other organizations filed a friend of the court brief in March in support of Miriam Flores.  

In a 5-4 decision delivered by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court ruled the lower courts did not properly consider whether “changed circumstances,” including the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, since Flores filed the original lawsuit had brought the Nogales Unified School District into compliance with the Equal Education Opportunity Act (EEOA). The Court issued a narrow decision, remanding the case to the district court to evaluate Arizona’s actions under a new standard of analysis.

“Although the Supreme Court recognized the vital importance of the EEOA, its finding that the lower courts focused ‘too narrowly’ on the adequacy of funding given to the Nogales program belies the necessity of increased support of ELL programs for the effective education of its students,” said Vincent A. Eng, deputy director of AAJC. “We believe Arizona’s level of support for ELL programs will fail to stand in the lower courts even under today’s new formulation.”

In 1992, parents—including respondent Flores—and students at Nogales Unified School District in Arizona filed a class-action lawsuit against the state, members of the state board of education and the state superintendent of public instruction, alleging that arbitrary and inadequate funding of programs for ELL students violated EEOA. The EEOA requires states to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs.” In 2000, the district court ruled in favor of Flores. Arizona continued to be noncompliant with the judgment. In 2006, the state legislature passed a law to increase funding for ELL students, but with significant restrictions. The case was ultimately sent back for an evidentiary hearing in the district court, which found that Arizona was still in violation of the EEOA. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari, a decision to hear the case on the merits, in January. Oral arguments took place in April.