Inspector General Says Ed. Dept.’s Contracts for PR Work Are Legal

A federal review of the Department of Education’s public relations activities has found that while numerous education groups that received federal funding failed to disclose their government connections in promotional efforts, their efforts did not constitute illegal propaganda under federal law.

The report, released Sept. 1 by Education Department Inspector General John P. Higgins Jr., looks at 20 contracts and 15 grants for public relations services issued by the department between 2002 and 2004. The report concludes that none of the materials produced under the contracts or grants, such as newspaper opinion articles and television and radio commercials, met the definition of covert propaganda. But the report says the grants and contracts raised some troubling questions.

“We did not find evidence to conclude that the department awarded these grants with an intent to influence public opinion through the undisclosed use of third-party grantees,” the report says. However, the review found that materials produced under the grants and contracts often did not include disclaimers that would alert readers that the department was helping to pay for the message, as is required by federal law. In those cases, Mr. Higgins recommends that the department...