"letter and spirit"

["Peter Majoy" <pwmjoy@earthlink.net>]

Regarding the reference to the "Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion To Intervene On Behalf Of The Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP And Individual Minority Parents and Students In Connecticut", the second paragraph states, "In brief, Interveners seek to protect their interest in Connecticut?s full and complete compliance with the letter and spirit of NCLB." (Underlining is my own.) The closest this document comes to suggesting that NCLB might deserve improvement is where it states, "While not a panacea, the Act helps guarantee adequate and equal educational opportunities, and facilitates the realization of Connecticut?s own constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education form all its public school students." (Underlining is my own.)
Having quoted from this document does not unequivocally settle the dispute about the meaning of "letter and spirit". The argument is really focused on the word, "letter". In such a phrase, it generally means "literal meaning" or "exactly as stated". If that were really the case, then the following would violate this interpretation of "letter": (1) At the Lawyer?s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law web site (www.lawyerscomm.org), under "Litigation: No Child Left Behind: Connecticut et al. v. Spellings", we get this: "In moving to intervene in the case, the Lawyer?s Committee expresses no opinion on the merits of NCLB." (Underlining is my own.) (2) At the same site under "State NAACP Seeks to Intervene in No Child Left Behind Suit", we get this: "This unusual alignment for the civil rights organization, however, does not represent full support of the No Child Left Behind Act." (Underlining is my own.) (3) As of August 2, 2006, there were 87 signers of the "Joint Organizational Statement on ?No Child Left Behind? Act" that was submitted to Congress on October 21, 2004. Two of the signers were the NAACP as well as the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF). The document calls for substantial changes in the following areas of NCLB: "Progress Measurement", "Assessments", "Building Capacity", "Sanctions", and "Funding". (Underlining is my own.) (4) Peter Campbell tells us that "I called the Connecticut NAACP this afternoon and spoke for half an hour to one of the attorneys handling the case for the NAACP. He was clear, forthright, and unequivocal in one thing: the NAACP does not support NCLB." (http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_outrages.html?id=2115). (Underlining is my own.) 
It is very important to see clearly that the phrase often quoted to prove that the NAACP endorses NCLB, i.e., "letter and spirit", is done so out of context. When one fills in that context, it is clear that a literal interpretation is incorrect. 


Peter Majoy
pwmjoy@earthlink.net
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