Kirk

dissenting:

In today’s decision, the majority bars both local school districts and their students from challenging the state’s alleged violation of federal law and improper diversion of federal funds designed to assure a full and fair education to local students in impoverished districts. In denying these parties access to the federal courts, the majority continues a dangerous and unfortunate trend insulating arbitrary and unlawful governmental action from full and fair review. Here, the majority goes too far when it bars on jurisdictional grounds all federal suits against the state by local governmental entities and political subdivision of the state. It also errs in construing the students’ pleadings in a narrow, grudging, hypertechnieal, and illiberal fashion that resuits in the dismissal of their claims as well.

The majority concludes that two Arizona school districts lack standing to bring suit in federal court to prevent enforcement of a state statute that allegedly violates federal law. I agree that our earlier decision in South Lake Tahoe v. California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 625 F.2d 231 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1039 , 101 S.Ct. 619 , 66 L.Ed.2d 502…

Two Arizona public school districts and several of their students brought suit in federal court against the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction and the county treasurers and school superintendents of Pima and Navajo Counties seeking declaratory and injunctive relief holding that AR.S. § 15-991.02, which requires county treasurers to remit a portion of a school district’s ending cash balance to a state fund used for equalization among rich and poor districts, violates the Federal Impact Ad Law, 20 U.S.C. §§ 236-244 , and the Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the United States Constitution, by taking some of their federal Impact Ad funds. 1 The district court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the districts are political subdivisions of the State of Arizona that lack standing to sue the state in federal court, and the students failed to allege distinct injury that is not derivative of the injury alleged by the school districts. It gave the students leave to amend, but they elected to appeal instead. We agree that neither the school districts nor the students have standing to bring this suit, and we therefore affirm.

*1242 I

The Indian Oasis-Baboquivari and…