Dallas Independent School District has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that it falsely certified compliance with Texas mandatory-reporting laws while receiving federal special-education funds, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. The resolution is notable not only for the payment amount, but also for the compliance-focused relief baked into the deal: a penalty component, funding for audits, law-enforcement protocols, and additional training.

At a high level, the case reflects a familiar federal enforcement theory with high stakes for public entities and federal-funds recipients: when an organization accepts federal money, its certifications about legal compliance can become the foundation for civil liability if the government later alleges those statements were false.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a closely watched dispute over admissions to four selective magnet middle schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, setting up another important chapter in the law governing race and public-school decision-making. The case centers on whether parent challengers can continue pressing equal-protection claims that a facially race-neutral admissions policy was adopted with the purpose of reducing the number of Asian American students admitted.

At issue is not simply whether the policy survives constitutional scrutiny on the merits, but what plaintiffs must plausibly show at the pleading stage or early in litigation to keep such claims alive.

The Justice Department has launched what it describes as its final wave of lawsuits challenging state and local laws that allow undocumented students to access in-state tuition and related higher-education benefits. The new suits target Hawaii, Arkansas, Utah, and the District of Columbia, extending a litigation campaign with potentially significant consequences for immigration policy, public university systems, and the balance of state and federal authority.

At the center of these cases is a recurring legal question: whether state or local tuition-benefit regimes for undocumented students are consistent with federal immigration law, or whether they are preempted by it.

The North Carolina Supreme Court has brought the long-running Leandro school-funding litigation to a close, issuing a 4-3 decision that rejects earlier rulings allowing trial courts to order the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to address alleged constitutional shortfalls in public education.