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Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73

§7711 Administrative hearings and judicial review

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 70— - STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VII— - IMPACT AID › § 7711

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

If the Secretary does something that hurts a local educational agency or a State, that agency or State can request a hearing like any person under chapter 5 of title 5 if it asks within 60 days. After the Secretary’s final decision, the agency or State may, within 30 working days (as it defines them), file a petition for review in the U.S. court of appeals for its circuit. The court clerk must send the petition to the Secretary, and the Secretary must file the record of the proceedings under section 2112 of title 28. The Secretary’s factual findings are binding if supported by substantial evidence, but the court can send the case back for more evidence for good cause. The Secretary may then change findings or actions and must file the new record; those new findings are also binding if supported by substantial evidence. The court alone can uphold or overturn the Secretary’s action, and the Supreme Court may review the judgment under section 1254 of title 28.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §7711

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A local educational agency and a State that is adversely affected by any action of the Secretary under this subchapter shall be entitled to a hearing on such action in the same manner as if such agency were a person under chapter 5 of title 5 if the local educational agency or State, as the case may be, submits to the Secretary a request for the hearing not later than 60 days after the date of the action of the Secretary under this subchapter.
(b)(1)A local educational agency or a State aggrieved by the Secretary’s final decision following an agency proceeding under subsection (a) may, within 30 working days (as determined by the local educational agency or State) after receiving notice of such decision, file with the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which such agency or State is located a petition for review of that action. The clerk of the court shall promptly transmit a copy of the petition to the Secretary. The Secretary shall then file in the court the record of the proceedings on which the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in section 2112 of title 28.
(2)The findings of fact by the Secretary, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Secretary to take further evidence. The Secretary may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and may modify the Secretary’s previous action, and shall file in the court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence.
(3)The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–95, § 7011, struck out “or under the Act of
September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress) (as such Act was in effect on the day preceding
October 20, 1994)” after “any action of the Secretary under this subchapter”. 2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title XVIII, § 1814(a)(1)], inserted “if the local educational agency or State, as the case may be, submits to the Secretary a request for the hearing not later than 60 days after the date of the action of the Secretary under this subchapter” before period at end. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title XVIII, § 1814(b)], substituted “30 working days (as determined by the local educational agency or State)” for “60 days”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–95 effective Dec. 10, 2015, and effective with respect to appropriations for use under this subchapter beginning fiscal year 2017, except as otherwise provided in such amendment, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as a note under section 6301 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title XVIII, § 1814(a)(2)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–387, provided that: “The amendment made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to an action of the Secretary under title VIII [now VII] of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) initiated on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 7711

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73