An organization that monitors ethics in the federal government filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings for their failure to release documents related to the Reading First initiative.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a suit Dec. 8 alleging that the department failed to follow laws requiring open meetings and the release of records in connection with review panels used in the $1 billion-a-year grant program. Federal employees denied the group’s request for records and information on the makeup of the panels, the complaint says.
The Baltimore-based Success for All Foundation filed a suit against the department earlier this year for its failure to satisfy its requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Education Week’s requests for documents also have not yet been fulfilled.
Department officials said they would be responding to the request shortly.
