The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments later this month from a class action Miriam Flores, 42-year-old Mexican-born homemaker, joined on behalf of her first child in 1996. The lawsuit, Flores v. State of Arizona, contends that programs for English-language learners in Nogales are deficient and receive inadequate funding from the state. Since it was filed in 1992, the lawsuit has pitted state officials against one another, and it has forced Nogales and school districts statewide to change the way they serve English-learners, including separating them for long periods of the day from other students. One of the state's arguments is that compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act trumps civil rights law, said Roger L. Rice, the executive director of Multicultural Education, Training, and Advocacy Inc., a Somerville, Mass.-based advocacy group for ELLs. On the other hand, he said, if the court ruled in favor of the Flores side of the case and said clearly that states have an obligation to sufficiently fund ELLs under civil rights law, advocates could go to court in states that do not provide any additional funds for such students and make the same argument that the Nogales parents have made. The outcome of this case before the Supreme Court could have further ramifications, not only for Arizona but also for districts and ELLs nationwide.