Reading & Literacy

CREW Wins Judgment on Reading First FOIA Request

January 26, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Any time the U.S. Department of Education gets a nudge to move on FOIA requests, particularly those related to the Reading First program, it gets my full attention. I have tussled with the department a number of times over the last six years, constantly nagging and prodding for documents that should be readily available but somehow take months, even years, to find and process.

I’m not the only one to hit such hurdles.

Now CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has won a round with this federal court judgment. The Washington-based organization, which uses FOIA, litigation, and research to root out corrupt activities in government, filed a document request with the department two years ago. The request was stalled by a department decision that CREW was not eligible for a fee waiver and would have to pay for the request. Similar FOIA requests by other organizations have been halted when the department suggested that they could cost upwards of $100,000 in staff time and printing costs. CREW appealed the decision on its request repeatedly until it was sent to the court for judgment.

Congress requires federal agencies waive processing and printing fees for FOIA requests if the information is (1) “in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of the operations or activities of the government” and (2) “not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). This mandate removes “the
roadblocks and technicalities which have been used by . . . agencies to deny waivers.”

So CREW won the argument on the fee waivers.

I’m anxious to see what turns up in the documents. CREW is looking for calendar entries and correspondence that show if and when publishers met with federal officials. Much of the controversy over Reading First—outlined in the Inspector General reports on the program—was over real or perceived favor given to some publishers over others. It will be interesting to see what publishers’ reps had an audience with federal officials at the time decisions were being made over states’ Reading First plans...and particularly if any met with Spellings, who was domestic policy advisor at the White House until she became Education Secretary in 2005.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Reading & Literacy Opinion How to Help Students With Their Writing. 4 Educators Share Their Secrets
In many classrooms, students are handcuffed by restrictive templates for assignments instead of getting to practice how to create.
13 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Reading & Literacy Spotlight Spotlight on Early Childhood Literacy
This Spotlight will help you analyze early literacy gains from tutoring, learn how science of reading can boost achievement, and more.
Reading & Literacy Spotlight Spotlight on The Science of Reading
This Spotlight will help you review the key components for reading comprehension, California’s approach to align teacher prep, and more.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Whitepaper
The Power of Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction
Dive into reading development; the benefits of explicit, systematic, teacher-led instruction; and much more in n2y's white paper.
Content provided by n2y