Renee v. Duncan

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) conditioned federal funding for certain low-income and minority schools on those schools hiring only "highly qualified" teachers, defined by the statute to require full state teaching certification, including through alternative certification routes. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (defendant) issued a regulation providing that teachers still working toward full certification through an alternative route, but making satisfactory progress, could also count as "highly qualified." These alternative routes generally let people with non-education bachelor's degrees skip or shorten standard certification coursework. Sonya Renee and others (plaintiffs) sued, arguing the regulation violated the NCLB by letting California place more uncertified intern teachers in minority and low-income schools. The district court granted summary judgment to Secretary Duncan, and Renee appealed.